Old,New, Borrowed, Blue
by Chelle-sama
Summary: The prequel to the Midnight series. It started at the bachelor party....ExT, as ever
1. Old: Eriol

**Disclaimer:** CLAMP/Kodansha owns everything you recognize. Everything you don't recognize belongs to me, and I'm not making money off of it. I also don't own or endorse any of the products herein. 

**Dedication:** Let's be different this time: To Circe, with many thanks (more than I can say, really) to Varon, Sakura, Ekai, and all the others who pitched in, for their encouragement and ideas. And also to sempei, for offering to be my dealer. *snerk* I appreciate the thought very much.

**Notes:** I realize that I could have done this in present tense, but the idea (well, the bar scene, anyway) has been sitting around since _before_ I wrote Midnight and its little friends, and it was always in the form it is now. Watch out for swearing and a few sexual themes here and there.

There are ideas in here that come out of Ciircee's Third Arc stories; these are used _with the author's permission_. They are not meant to imply any relation to her works, or my own here referenced, but are used because I liked them. I had nothing to do with her work (aside from beta and praise, beta and praise) and my own work is in no way linked to any of hers.

British slang: To get drunk in England is to get pissed. Eriol is British and I'm forcing it on his inner thoughts

Finally, we come to the old wedding tradition of the bride carrying 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' when she goes down the aisle. 'Something old' refers to Eriol's feelings for Tomoyo. That will be explained (much) later in this part so I won't go into it here. Disagreements thrown at me will be summarily ignored, since I just don't like Mizuki. I can't help it; something about her just drives me to frenzied loathing.

**Old: Eriol**

They stood in Li Xiao-Lang's living room, seven grown men against one small girl and an old man. It didn't look good. In fact, it looked really, really bad. 

"Yes, you _are_ going out, Touya-san. You're going out tonight, as a matter of fact,"Tomoyo said cheerfully while Touya glowered down at her.

"The party isn't until tomorrow, Daidouji-san." Eriol winced inwardly at having called her attention to himself. She was wearing the face that meant she was going to get her way no matter how she had to go about it. That face scared him.

"That's the traditional night for it, Daidouji-san." Li Po-sin, Xiao-Lang's cousin and Meiling's fiancée, added somewhat hesitantly. Tomoyo-san seemed to make him a little nervous, though he clearly liked her well enough and she was certainly fond of him. 

"No, it's tonight," she said, smiling sweetly. "As I said, I willnot have the lot of you showing up at the wedding with hangovers. Further more, I won't have any of the following: There will beno public nudity.No strippers - that includes you.Nobody will eat anything living,not even if you're dared to.Nobody will eat anything that shouldn't be eaten, period. You two," she pointed at Xiao-Lang and Yamazaki, "are important and will not be dancing on any table or bar tops. The rest of you are free to crack your heads open if you so choose. There will be no pornographic movies. Nobody gets to drive anywhere. You will stay on mainland Japan. In fact, you will stay in Tomoeda. If there's any fighting, and I find out who started it, I will make your worst day ever look like a fairytale. You will not call anyone but paramedics or taxis after two beers. You will not call the paramedics unless you truly need them. Nobody is bringing home bar mugs. All vomiting will be done at the bar, in the designated area…meaning the toilet. Nobody will get himself arrested for any reason, even if it seems like a good one. All credit cards will be left here, along with all car keys and house keys."

"House keys? Daidouji-san, how do you expect us to get into our homes without the keys?"

"Simple, Terada-sensei. You're not going home. All of you will be spending the night right here. Wei-san," Wei smiled benignly at everyone, "has agreed to baby-sit the lot of you and make sure nobody dies from alcohol poisoning. He'll be letting you in when you come home, so you won't have to worry that Li-kun or Li-san will lose their keys at the bar. Your wives, fiancées, girlfriends, and significant others have been told not to let you in no matter how much you beg or how pathetic you are, so you might as well do as I say."

"Nothing doing, Tomoyo-san. We're following an ancient, honored tradition here and that means tomorrow night."

+++

"So I says to her: '_I_ am a grown _man_, Daidouji**.** If I say we'regoin' out, then we're goin' out.Tha'sall there is to it, _woman_. And what do _you_ have to say about _that_?' Tha's what I told her." Touyanodded in satisfaction. Erioldid, too, but mostly to counteract what Touyawas doing because watching made him feel a little queasy.

"Yeah? What'd she say?" Yamazaki looked suitably impressed. There weren't exactly a lot of men who would stand up to DaidoujiTomoyo when she wanted something done her way. 

"Whaddayamean, what'd she say? She started apologizing for doubting me, telling me that of course I was absolutely right and all. Dropped right to her knees, threw her arms around my legs, and begged me for my forgiveness. And then, when I told her that I wouldn't…'cause I was justmessin' with her head a little…she startedunzi…. ."

"To-ya."Yukitosounded miffed. Or maybe muffed.Whatever it was, he didn't sound very happy.

"Oh, don' worry, Yuki, I didn't let her do anything. I told her I was taken." Eriolsat up a little more and turned his head so the room would swing around and put Yukitoacross from him. Which wasn't a very good idea since he turned his head the wrong way and the table had to swirl all the way around to get to the blond man, and he was sitting just on Touya's other side.

"None of that happened. You stop saying things like that. Tomoyo-chanis a nice girl." Yukitoslapped the back of Touya'shead.

"Daidouji-san'snot all sweetness and light," Eriolamended. "But she's an awfully nice _girl_. Really good at it. Bein' a girl and doin' girl things andbein' pretty and nice smelling and all."

"Well, of courseTomoyo-san is a nice girl. Jeez, Yuki, she's practically my little sister. Who'ssayin'she isn't a nice girl? I'll kick him in the head for saying that, the bastard! She's a good kid."Touyaglared around the table, making sure everyone agreed with him.

"So she said we couldn't go out?" Xiao-Lang asked in horror. Daidoujiwas the one person he feared, and getting on her bad side just two days before his wedding would be the worst kind of mistake. Eriol thought that his descendant had faced The Void with more calm than he did the idea that Tomoyo-san would be angry with him.

"She did_not_. I really did tell her we were going out whether she liked it or not,"Touyalooked put out. Then he glared atEriol. "What are you doin' looking at my almost little sister Tomoyo-san like she's a girl? You just quit it, you girl-dating _guy_, you. I'm not lettin' her get married, either."

"I remember that," Terada chirped in a singsong voice, his eyes glassy and unfocused. "That's why we're out tonight 'stead of tomorrow night like we're supposed to be. Rika-san made me do the same thing for my bachelor party. I wonder if that's whereDaidouji-san got the idea from?"

"Na, I betTomoyo-san gave her the idea." Yamazaki said thoughtfully. "She's scary like that."

Eriol nodded to himself, mistake though that was. Daidouji-san was eerily prescient and giving Sasaki-san ideas for her wedding seemed exactly like something she'd do. Yamazaki had called her Tomoyo-san. Eriol nodded to himself again. Daidouji-san, Tomoyo-san, knew all about him. She was his friend. He could call her that, too. It was a very pretty name.

"She reminds me of Xiao-Lang's mom, she's really strong like that," Li Po-sin spoke up,resting his temple on his glass of whatever it was they were currently drinking. "And maybemy Meiling, only Daidouji-san probably wouldn't laugh when she beat me in training." He sighed happily, thinking of his fiancée, or possibly not being laughed at in training. Then he bolted upright, turning horrified eyes on his cousin. "Hey, you don't think she gave this idea toMeiling, do you? We're Li's, Xiao-Lang. We're supposed to follow tradition. I don't want your mom mad at us."

"I don't think she'd be mad. She's a girl, too, and they always stick together. Them andWei, always stickin' together."

"Oh, yeah. DamnWei, always siding with the girls. I 'member that about him."Satisfied, Po-sin laid back down on his glass, where the table swayed gently under him.

Touyasnickered. "'Least I get to go home tonight. You guys are so screwed,havin' to stay with the brat."

"That'snot right. It's just not. I'm engaged, you know. I should get to go home, too," Yamazaki pouted.

"You don't even live withMihara-san." Yukito snorted, rolling his eyes.

"How come you can't?"Eriolasked, signaling for another round. Some of the other fellows still had…well, something…in their glasses, but his was empty and he'd eaten the lemon and the ice and was bored playing with just the glass.

"Hey, yeah…why can't I go home? I'm married. Rika-san can let me in if I can't find my keys. Have you guys seen my keys? I swear I had 'em when I came in."

"A'causeDaidoujisaid we can't," Xiao-Lang muttered.

"Then how comeyou get to go home?" Terada whined.

"A'causeWeiis s'posed to let me in so I can let you guys in 'cause you can't go home 'cause Daidoujisaid you can't 'cause she said the other girls wouldn't like us coming home drunk," he sighed.

"So how come I get to go home?"Touyafrowned. This wasn't making much sense.

"Because you don't have a girl.You have Yukito-kun and she said that if the two of you could find your door, and your door key, and get it to work, then you were welcome to go home andnot bug anyone but each other." Teradanodded and so did Eriol. Why did everyone keep trying to make him sick? "She had all sorts of rules before we left, remember?"

Eriol thought very, very, very hard about this. Then he drank half of whatever it was he'd ordered for them and tried thinking again.Touya had toldTomoyothat they were going out.Tomoyodidn't beg Touya's forgiveness, she had… she had… he put his forehead on his glass like Po-sin, who had to be meditating he was so quiet. 

He remembered that TomoyoandWei had managed to find some reason to gather everyone at Xiao-Lang's apartment today …or last night.Eriolwasn't sure what time it was any more, but she'd gotten them all together and asked about their plans for the bachelor party. They hadn't even told her they were going to have one; not even the man of the hour knew about it. She said she didn't want them going out the night before the wedding because she wasn't going to let them ruin Sakura's happiest day by showing up hung-over. That was whenTouyahad told her they were going out anyway.Eriolsnickered at his drink. It was absolutely shameful, the control she had over them.

"Heeeey, Gaki."

Eriol perked up. His son-of-the-next-life didn't sound angry, which meant they were finally progressing to the night's entertainment. His son-of-the-next-life's boyfriend had once said that Touya tended to get 'emotional' when he drank too much. Hearing this, the other men had decided that they'd have to see _that_ before they'd believe it was true. That, and Daidouji hadn't left them any other options for entertainment. This was the third bar they'd been to and so far they'd only managed to push him into a forced sort of belligerence, as though he needed to prove he still hated the boy his sister loved. Which they all knew he didn't. Well, Po-sin hadn't been sure of it but he was very laid back for a Li and had only tried to kill Touya once for insulting his cousin and now he didn't so much as twitch at the familiar slight.

"Go to hell, Kinomoto-san." It had become Xiao-Lang's way of letting Touya know he was listening.

"Not you, Gaki, the other Gaki. Jeez, Syaoran-kun, if I wanted to talk to you I'd say 'Hey, Syaoran-kun, buddy, can I talk to you for a moment?' I wouldn't call you names. You're marrying my baby sister. That means something."

"You mean Po-sin-san? I think you'll have to wake him up first, To-ya." Yukito interrupted. 

Eriol suspected that Yukito wasn't as pissed as everyone else was. Maybe he was pushing it into Yue. That would be interesting. He didn't know if Yue could be drunk. Or if Yue and Yukito could both be drunk at the same time. Or could Yue be on the inside and drunk so Yukito could be sober on the outside? Tomoyo had said they could go home. Maybe she knew. Maybe she knew that Yue could get them home because he couldn't get drunk. Or that Yukito could make Yue drunk and he wouldn't be. It was all very interesting. Maybe he should ask. What a good idea! Why hadn't he thought of that first? Yue would know if he were getting drunk, probably. Yue hadn't ever been drunk before. But he'd seen Clow get drunk. That was just about the same, wasn't it? You could maybe guess you were drunk if you'd seen someone else get drunk. Clow had done that a lot sometimes. Yue usually got him home again. Tomoyo-san must have known that, or else she wouldn't let Touya go home instead of to Xiao-Lang's. She was really smart.

"…so you're okay, Gaki." Touya slapped his back affectionately.

"Huh?" Apparently, Touya had wanted his attention, not Po-sin's. Which was sad, because Po-sin was really very interesting. He liked to tell stories about Xiao-Lang and Meiling's childhood.

"I said, you might be dating Kaho and tha's really creepy 'cause you're half her age and I wasn't even that much younger than her, like only almost ten years or something, but my sister and my Tomoyo-san like you, so you're okay. You're a good kid. Remind me of my dad, you know. And Yuki." Touya beamed at Yukito, who looked a little nervous. "You know I love you, right, Yuki? I don't love you like that, Gaki, but you're okay. Isn't he, Yuki? Doesn't he make you think of my dad?"

"Kinomoto-sensei? Yeah, I guess I can see that. I think it's the glasses." Terada interjected. He'd been poking Po-sin to no avail. "He's kinda got that face, too. But I don't think he looks like Yukito-kun at all. And you're gonna hafta wait to talk to Gaki. I think he's asleep right now. Shhh!" 

"Oh, yeah. Shhh!" Touya hissed at them all. "Poor little guy. He probably had a really long flight. Needs some sleep. You should'a let him take a nap before we went out, Syaoran-kun."

"Li-san's been here for three weeks. I think he's gotten over the flight." Eriol said blankly, still trying to figure out why Touya thought he was okay. "You don't like me dating Kaho?"

"She, buddy, will only break your heart. She's _cruel_, y'know. I got one day, ONE DAY," he roared, and the entire population of the establishment turned to stare at them, "before she left me for England. Whole 'nother country. Knew for two months, TWO MONTHS," he yelled again, earning fewer looks this time, "before she told me. We'll both love someone else my _keister_, Kaho! You just didn't want to be with me! Oh, but she'll get hers, Gaki-kun. I can't wait to see it. It's gonna be soooo sweeeeeet. But, like I said, you're okay. 'Mind me of Yuki. I love Yuki, y'know. Best thing ever to happen to me." Touya swayed dangerously close, staring him in the eyes, and Eriol hoped he didn't remind Touya enough of Yukito for any mistakes to be made. "I'd have let him marry Sakura, if she didn't love my friend Syaoran-kun over there. But she does. She loves him a lot." He leaned back and nearly fell, then tried to lean around Yukito's chair to hug Xiao-Lang. "She really does love you, Syaoran-kun. You make my little sister _so happy_. It's so sweet. My only little baby sister. God, I love her. Practically raised her, you know. And now you're gonna marry her and she loves you and you'll have hundreds of little babies for me to come play with. I love babies."

"He shifts gears pretty quick, doesn't he?" Terada snickered. It was a welcome change from his earlier uneasy silences. He was clearly uncertain about partying with former students, but he was an usher in the wedding and that meant taking part in the bachelor party. At least he was finally getting comfortable. He'd even gone so far as to look around the room.

Xiao-Lang, for his part, was trying to evade the heartfelt embrace of his soon to be brother-in-law. It should have been easy, considering his martial arts training, but he was just as drunk as Touya, who'd also had some martial arts training, so it was a lot like an amateur wrestling match, with a little more kicking. Eriol decided to get out of the way and slid underneath the table. After a moment of confusion wherein he couldn't identify anyone's shoes, Yamazaki leaned down and looked at him. 

"I'm over here. I'll get you a chair, if you want. We'll have to tell Kinomoto-san that it's tradition for the bride's brother to kiss the groom at the wedding. You know about that, right, Hiiragizawa? About wedding traditions, I mean." Eriol crawled forward, hoping Yamazaki would remember the chair because he really needed to sit down.

"And it's also tradition for the groom to kiss the best man," he told Yamazaki as he emerged to find Po-sin awake again, Terada nearly drowning in his … whatever-it-was, and Yukito pulling a protesting Kinomoto Touya to his feet. "I'd get some of that flavored lip gloss, if I was you. I think Tomoyo-san has some. Her lips were really shiny and she smelled like Dr. Pepper when she shoved me out the door to come here."

"Daidouji-san is really pretty," Po-sin offered, looking confused. "Why's everyone so scared of her? Does Xiao-Lang have to kiss her, too? That'd be really nice."

"No, it's my job to kiss Tomoyo-san at the wedding. She's beautiful." Eriol was irritated. Xiao-Lang shouldn't be going around kissing his wife's best friend, and certainly not when she was Tomoyo-san and Eriol wanted to kiss her. 

"You're not in the wedding. I think I kiss her. Chiharu-chan won't like that. Maybe Chiharu-chan will kiss her for me, so that way I don't have to. You don't think Tomoyo-san will mind, do you? She really loves Sakura-san and all, so maybe she won't." Yamazaki kicked him idly. "Tomoyo-san doesn't have a boyfriend, so she won't have to worry about getting someone else to kiss someone else for her."

"I get to kiss her," Eriol insisted. "Where's my chair? I don't wanna sit on the floor."

"Who's getting kissed?" Touya demanded. "I haven't been kissed yet. Nobody else gets kissed until I do." 

"Don't touch me." Xiao-Lang leapt to his feet and staggered back from the table. "I'm engaged to your sister!"

"Don't wanna kiss you, stupid. You're gonna be my brother. That's gross." 

"C'mon, To-ya. I've finished my drink, it's time to go home."

"I want a kiss," Touya protested. Then grabbed his boyfriend and planted one on him, a very long, very involved one. Terada whooped with glee and fell out of his seat. "Now we can go. Did I finish my drink, Yuki? Maybe we should stay so I can finish one. It's not everyday you go out and have a good time with the man 's gonna marry your sister, y'know. I love that kid."

"We'll see him tomorrow, To-ya. You can tell him how much you love him then." Yukito had obviously decided to forgo reason and just drag Touya out physically. Eriol knew he should say something, but he couldn't remember why he didn't want the mouthy Kinomoto to leave just yet. Maybe because Touya was his son-of-the-next-life. And even though, very technically speaking, Touya was seven years his senior, he felt a surge of paternal love and pride. They should have named him Eriol Junior, he thought warmly. Clow would have liked that. Clow was always a really emotional drunk, just like Touya was now. Maybe Eriol Junior should have been named Clow Junior instead. He was such a nice son-of-the-next-life, Eriol couldn't figure out why Yukito wanted to take him away from the party.

Touya, for his part, seemed determined to stay. "The other guys aren't leaving yet! Let's have one more. Just one, c'mon Yuki, it's only one beer and I can handle it! When are we ever all gonna be together like this again, y'know? I don't have any other little sisters to watch get married. Let's stay." He grabbed Po-sin. Po-sin grabbed back, mostly to keep Touya upright and off the table, which was crowded with glasses in varying stages of emptiness.

"Yeah, have a beer. What're we drinking right now? We should finish that first. It's okay, Tsukishiro-san, we'll make it a really fast one. We're new cousins and stuff. You know." Touya hugged him and Po-sin pushed him away. "Don't touch me like that."

"No, I really think we should be going. Now, To-ya. C'mon. No more beer, we're done for tonight." Yukito continued to pull Touya towards the door.

"I don't wanna go yet, Yuki! I should stay here, keep an eye on Syaoran-kun and that Po-sin kid. They're gonna be family tomorrow. Or whenever it is. This is important to me! Ever since Mom died…."

They didn't find out what it was, though, because Yukito had managed to shove the near-sobbing man out onto the street and the pub's thick door cut him off in mid-sentence.

"Damn it. There goes the entertainment." Terada sighed deeply. "He was just starting to get funny." 

"Hey!" Eriol shouted towards the door, reminded at last of what he'd meant to say earlier. "He can't leave until we've seen him cry! Bring him back here!" But he thought he felt Yue emerge and that probably meant that they were well out of earshot. Well, he'd tried.

Yamazaki blinked a few times. "Now what are we going to do? It's too early to go home." He signaled for another round and sighed deeply. "It's way too early."

"Not for me it isn't." Xiao-Lang finished his drink and stood up, or as close to it as he could manage since he was listing dangerously to one side. "I'm supposed to be there to let them in if they can't get into their place. Daidouji will kill me if they show up someplace else. They'd probably go show up at her place. She'd kill me." He staggered to the door, then turned around. "Anyone else?"

"Me." Po-sin made a few attempts to get up, then pushed away from the table so it wouldn't get in his way, and stood. "I don't know how to get anywhere in this town. You have to kiss Daidouji-san at the wedding, did you know? Can I kiss her, too? You shouldn't be kissing other girls when you're engaged, Xiao-Lang. Oh, and her brother."

"Daidouji-san doesn't have a brother," Terada said importantly. "_I'd_ know." 

"I already said, _I_ get to kiss Tomoyo-san!" Eriol snapped. These guys were really pissed if they thought he was going to let them get away with that. "That's what I do at the wedding. Xiao-Lang has to kiss Sakura-san and you're engaged to Meiling-san and she'll hit you if you kiss anyone else. I kiss Tomoyo-san."

"You have to kiss me, I think." Yamazaki looked closely at the two Li's for a moment. "But I don't want you to. You two aren't very cute."

Xiao-Lang looked mightily offended. "Well, that's it! I'm leaving!" He stalked off into the door and rebounded a good meter or so. "Damn it!" He began groping for his sword. "Damn door! I said I'm leaving and I meant it!"

"Oi, Takashi-san, I don't think you should have said that. It's his party and all. Now he's cranky." Po-sin sighed. "Stupid guy doesn't even know he doesn't have his sword. I'll go open the door for him. Then I'm gonna come back here and finish my drink, 'cause I think you guys need me," Yamazaki's signal for another round had finally been answered, now with three less people than there were glasses, "and then I'll see if I can't pick up his trail and get home."

"You're a good guy, Li-san." Eriol tried to pat him on the back, but he'd left to get the door for his cousin and Eriol fell into Yamazaki's lap instead. "Whoa."

"I'm not that drunk yet, Hiiragizawa." 

"I'm not, either." He shoved himself back up and managed to get a glass of whatever it was aloft as Po-sin returned for his last drink. "A toast, my good men, to not being drunk enough!" 

"Hear, hear!" They all aimed for the center of the table in an attempt to touch glasses, but it failed almost completely. Quite a bit of something got spilled but nothing broke and Eriol considered that a success. He watched in awe as Po-sin drained his glass in one long breathless try. 

"I've gotta go. Xiao-Lang's mad about his sword being at home and he's moving pretty fast…I think. I hope he stops to throw up somewhere 'cause my magic is just shot all to hell right now and if I can't see him I'm gonna end up sleeping in the park or someplace." 

"Try sleeping under Emperor Penguin. He's that really big one with all the little ones around. You can crawl under there. So you won't get wet if it rains or something," Yamazaki advised. Po-sin nodded and headed for the door.

"Bye!" They waved as he left, much more successfully and quietly than Xiao-Lang had, then returned to the business at hand. "Whose drink do I have? Touya-san's, Yukito-san's, or Xiao-Lang the Man of the Hour's?" 

"I've got Li-san's. I'm The Man. The Best Man. I'm the best man for the job, boys," Yamazaki grinned.

Terada started laughing and fell out of his chair again. 

"I think he's got Touya-san's, then. He's losing it fast all of a sudden. So I've got…Yukito-san's." That was good; Yukito-san wasn't half as drunk as everyone else. Eriol nodded. Which was a mistake because it made him sick.

"Not losing anything," Terada denied. "I've found another glass, too." Having chugged his own drink in imitation of the now famous Po-sin, he had indeed found his second glass of something-or-other. Which would have been hard to miss, considering he'd fallen forward into it when he got up off the floor.

"Well…um…great. That's wonderful."

He and Yamazaki exchanged looks. The two of them, he thought, were a lot better at this whole drinking business than the others had been. Except for maybe Yuki-Yue; he'd been pretty level headed. If they were going to get to the serious dissolution of minds and morals, they'd have to take care of Terada before they got too far along. God knew the man couldn't take care of himself. He hadn't even finished his drink before deciding to mediate on the relative merits of marriage versus bachelorhood.

"Maybe we could call Rika-san?" Yamazaki suggested tentatively. "I don't want to deal with him."

"We couldn't!" Eriol was aghast. "We can't even call the paramedics unless he dies! Tomoyo-san said so!"

"Oh. Well…maybe the bartender will call for us? She didn't say _he_ couldn't call."

"Yamazaki…that's brilliant. You are so clever. You're a genius among geniuses. Or is it geniusi? I forget. It's like mongoose, I can never remember. You want to ask the bartender to call, or should I?"

"You do it. You need another drink. Terada-sensei tipped your second one over."

Eriol glared at the contemplative teacher. " Oi, you're a prat." He got up and lurched over to the bar, where he discovered two things: He did not know Terada Rika-san's telephone number and he wasn't steady enough to carry his own drink without spilling it. Prudently, he asked the waitress to bring another round to the table and made his way back. The stupid bar was set up like an obstacle course, he thought angrily. Who the hell designed a bar so a body couldn't walk through without tripping a dozen times? The waitress, strangely enough, didn't seem to have any problem at all.

"Is he gonna do it, Hiiragizawa? I didn't see him pick up the phone."

"You have to go. I don't know their number. I should have asked."

"Oh, yeah. Well, keep off my drink, will you? I'll go. I can do this. I _am_ the Best Man. I can do anything."

"You have to marry the bride if the groom runs off. Be careful…the chairs are moving around on their own. It's like a big shifting puzzle maze out there. 'S not safe."

"Chiharu-chan won't like that very much." Yamazaki staggered over to the bar. Moments later, he returned with another round ordered and the flush of success high in his cheeks. "Done! Stop drinking my beer, Eriol-san."

"Yamazaki, you are one powerful man. You also have to marry the groom if the bride runs off during the wedding."

"Huh. That won't make Chiharu-chan any happier than me having to marry the bride." He thought about it for a moment, drinking in silence. "What if both the bride and the groom decide to run away from the wedding? What do we do then? I don't think we covered this at the rehearsal."

"Who's the Maid of Honor? Maybe you marry her." Terada, apparently done thinking, abruptly sat up and joined in the debate.

"Tomoyo-san."

"That won't work. You can't marry Tomoyo-san. You'll have to marry Mihara-san instead."

"Mihara-san isn't the Maid of Honor, though. If the bride and groom both back out, that's who has to get married." Terada disagreed. "That's why they have a best _man_ and a _maid_ of honor. She has to marry the groom if just the bride leaves."

"I thought I had to marry the groom? Hiiragizawa, don't I marry the groom?"

"Nobody marries Tomoyo-san," Eriol growled. "She doesn't get married at the wed…yes?" 

The bartender stood next to their table, looking for all the world like he dealt with drunks every night of his life. "There was no answer, sirs. I don't think the lady is in."

"What lady?" Terada asked. "Who's not in? Why are we calling ladies? Didn't Daidouji-san say not to?"

"That's why he called," Yamazaki grinned, jerking his head in the direction of the bartender. 

"Your wife. She's not home. Who do we call now?"

"Why're we calling Rika-san?"

"We didn't, 'cause she's not home to get called. Who do we call?"

"Perhaps a taxi, gentlemen?" The bartender offered.

"There's an idea! Who's leaving? Hey, the drinks are here!"

"Nobody's leaving yet. The cab's not here," Eriol told him seriously, shielding his two drinks with his arm. Yamazaki was just going to have to take care of his own, he decided. He needed his other arm for balance.

"Hey yeah, that _is_ a good idea. I'll write the address down just so they don't have to try to take direction from that drunk over there. Have you got a pen?"

"Of course, sir. Is there any particular company you'd like me to call? Or shall I call the company that Daidouji-sama has selected?"

"Tomoyo-san's mother is going to call a cab for us? She is _such_ a cool mum," Eriol smiled.

"Not that Daidouji-sama, sir."

"Wow, this is getting complicated. I didn't know getting a taxi was this hard. No, you just call anyone at all. I don't care who takes him so long as it's not me."

The bartender nodded and left, pulling out a small notebook and flipping through it.

"Who's leaving?" Terada asked again, slurring outrageously. He got his glass of beer as far as his lips before passing out across the table.

"Holy crap, he's dead!" Eriol blurted out, wide-eyed with horror.

"Should we call the paramedics now?"

"Do dead people need ambulances?" Eriol wondered. "A'cause we're not s'posed to call them unless we really need them. Tomoyo-san said so."

"That's true. We should make sure he's dead, first, then." Yamazaki leaned over and poked Terada in the eye. Terada flinched. "Not dead. I guess we could just wait for the taxi."

"How're we going to get him to the car? Do we carry him?"

Yamazaki frowned thoughtfully, then shook his head. "I don't wanna carry him. He's all wet from the table now."

"Maybe the bartender will do it?" He offered hopefully. The man had been very helpful so far.

"I don't know…he might decide to stop serving us if we make him do that, too. Do you think we can wake him up long enough for him to walk out?"

"I suppose we could try," he muttered doubtfully. "We'll probably have to help him out. I don't think he's going to be very steady on his feet. If we can wake him up."

"He wasn't even steady on his ass, Hiiragizawa. But I'll get some ice water. That should do the trick." Yamazaki raised his hand for the waitress, still staring at their old teacher. "He's not so bad now, is he? I mean, if I had to go drinking with a grown-up again, he wouldn't be a bad choice, would he? Kinda shy and not much for conversation, but he grows on you, don't you think?"

"He's not a bad choice." Eriol poked the man a few times and got a mumble in response. "We might get him to drink that water after all."

"Oh, I was just going to dump it on him. Did you want to try waking him up without it?"

"Huh. No." Eriol was fairly certain that the results would be funny, and they _had_ been cheated out of their promised entertainment. Besides, it would probably be faster than shoving at him and the cab was probably already on its way. He didn't want it to leave without its passenger. Tomoyo-san's mum had gone through a lot of trouble to get that taxi for them. 

The waitress seemed glad that they ordered ice water, and that was a little strange. It was a bar, a place that served alcohol; weren't they supposed to get upset if all you ordered was water or soda pop? However the employees were supposed to feel, she was a lot faster in getting the water to the table than the beer. She also brought three glasses of it. That was good, Eriol thought. The first one might not be enough, and now they wouldn't have to wait and order and wait some more if it didn't work.

"Do you wanna do it or should I?" Yamazaki asked, staring at the water. Eriol thought he might want to do it, but then Yamazaki might feel bad if he didn't get to do it. It _had_ been his idea, after all.

"Maybe we should both do it. One glass each, and then we'll know if we need to use the last one," he suggested. That ought to make them both happy. Plus, more cold water might help Terada wake up better. Then he'd be able to get to the taxi by himself and Eriol and Yamazaki could just keep drinking instead of dragging him outside. They were trying to celebrate, even if the man they were celebrating had already left. It wasn't every day you got to throw a bachelor party.

"On the count of three, then," Yamazaki nodded, raising a glass and holding it over their teacher's head. "One, two," he paused dramatically, grinning at Eriol who was tense with anticipation, "_three_!" And they both upended their glasses.

The shrieking alone would have been a good show, girlish and piercing and full of swear words, but Terada also managed to find his feet and dance around the table. Not well, to be sure, but the ice cubes that had fallen down his shirt seemed to be quite distracting. He only tripped six times, which was probably better than he would have done, Eriol admitted.

"It's okay! We're okay! Just waking up a little! Go back to your drinking! Thank you!" Yamazaki was shouting over the noise. The waitress looked very unhappy, and the bartender had his eyes closed and was in a position of prayer. Everyone else in the bar was just staring at them. Eriol waved slightly to let them know that everything really was all right, then had to catch Terada before he fell onto the table after tripping over Yamazaki. Finally, someone started applauding and Yamazaki took a deep bow. "Thank you, again, thank you! But on to more important matters, everyone: there is still beer waiting to be had!"

"You should go into politics, Yamazaki," Eriol said as people began to go back to their conversations or drinks, "everybody seems to listen to you. You'd be very good at it."

Terada was glaring at Yamazaki, or glaring as best he could since his eyes refused to focus. "What the hell was that for?" He demanded loudly. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"No, Sensei, we'd never do anything like that. We just thought we should wake you up before you went outside." Eriol stumbled to his feet, still supporting most of the other man's weight. "Yamazaki? Would you go get the door? Or, no, wait…I need help. He's heavy."

"Why'm I going outside? Are you trying to get rid of me? You guys don't want to hang out with me anymore?" 

"No, you _wanted_ to go outside, remember? Something about a car." Yamazaki smiled reassuringly.

"Oh. Well, that makes sense. It's late. I should probably go home. Rika-san's probably wondering where I am. Have you guys seen my keys? I can't find them any where." 

"Don't worry about 'em, Sensei. I'm sure you won't really need them. Someone will let you in." 

Eriol tried not to laugh as Yamazaki lied for all he was worth. He really would make a great politician. _Everybody_ seemed to listen to him. He'd probably be the greatest Prime Minister Japan would ever see.

They got Terada outside and poured into the waiting car with a minimum of time and trouble, though Eriol got a nasty bruise crawling over their friend and falling back out onto the sidewalk. The driver tried to talk them into getting in, too (although Yamazaki thoughtfully pointed out that Eriol was already _in_ the car, underneath Terada, who had passed out again) but they managed to convince her that they'd be okay on their own and returned to the dark, smoky pub. Then they got down to business.

+++

Eriol was wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he reeled out onto the street several hours later. Or he thought it was hours later, anyway. It was kind of hard to tell, since he'd broken his watch by putting it in his beer to show Yamazaki just how long it would be waterproof. In any case, they were the last patrons to leave the bar. Some of the wait-staff had even left while they'd been throwing up in the bathroom. Not that they'd felt sick or anything, he reminded himself. They just didn't want to cause any trouble for Wei.

"I dunno 'bout the two of you, Hiiragizawa, but I feel good." Yamazaki bounced into a lamppost and caught it before he fell. "In fact, I'm not ready to go back to Li's yet. What do you think we should do now?"

"Two of me? I'm not the one with a twin. And why are there two streetlights right next to each other? That's stupid. Isn't that stupid, Yamazaki? And it's too early to go home." Eriol nodded seriously and watched the street bounce up and down a few times before it settled back down. Which was funny, as he hadn't even felt the earthquake that made it do that.

"I just said that."

"Okay. Huh. We should do something. We shouldn't have to go to Xiao-Lang's, you know. Stupid rules. I can't believe Tomoyo-san doesn't trust us. We're trustworthy, aren't we? We made sure everyone else got home, didn't we? We can take care of ourselves, Yamazaki, not like those other tosspots. Whooo, those guys were bad. Drank like little girls, you know. I bet Sakura-san could've held it better. You know what I wanna do, Yamazaki?" Eriol shoved away from the wall he'd been leaning on and all but fell onto his friend.

"Hiiragizawa, I really like you, but I really like Chiharu-chan better. I'm not doing that with you."

"I'm not, either." Eriol managed to get a little distance between himself and Yamazaki, frowning at the ground as he looked for whatever it was that he'd tripped over. "Tha's not what I was talking about. I don't wanna do that with you. I like girls."

"Oh, good. I like girls, too. We are so much alike it's scary. Y'know, I miss Chiharu-chan. Haven't seen her all day. God, I love her. Even if she yells when I tell stories. She's the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world."

"Yeah! That's what I wanna do!"

"You wanna go to Chiharu-chan's with me and tell stories so she c'n yell at us?" Yamazaki frowned at him. "She's _my_ girl, Hiiragizawa. You just 'member that when we get there."

"No, not Mihara-san! I meant, I wanna go see a beautiful girl. Tomoyo-san didn't say that we couldn't go to _her_ place when she did the rules. I bet she'd open the door and then _she'd_ be breaking the rules. She'd be wrong and we could fight about it. We wouldn't be breaking rules. She's too nice, you know. We should fix that, make her a bad, bad, rule-breaker. We should go see her. I wonder what kind of pajamas she wears?"

"But I wanna go to Chiharu-chan's! I like her pajamas. She's got li'l polar bears all over 'em. You know that polar bears aren't really white, don't you? They're clear. They look white 'cause of all the snow. If you moved them to the rain forest, they'd look like trees and stuff."

"Tha'd be neat. I should try that sometime. Maybe if I put one in front of my fireplace, he'd look like he was on fire an' he'd melt."

"What would you do with a melted bear?"

"I dunno. But it'd be awfully natty, don't you think?"

"Guess so. Chiharu-chan lives this way, Hiiragizawa," Yamazaki told him, beginning to stumble away. "We gotta be quiet, though. Some of her brothers still live at home, an' they're kinda strange. Don't like boys, tha's for sure."

"We don't like boys, either. I thought we were gonna go see Tomoyo-san? I wanna see her. Which way 's she live? Tha' way, right? Yeah, I'm right. I'm gonna go see her. Tell Mihara-san I say 'hi' okay? An' I'll see her later, okay? I'm gonna go make Tomoyo-san mad right now, but I'll lie to her later so she can be mad, too."

"'Kay, if you don't wanna come with. You sure you don' wanna? I know where her window is; we probably wouldn't wake up her brothers or her parents."

"Yeah, I'm okay. See ya later, Yamazaki. I'll explain to Tomoyo-san why you aren't with me. She'll think you're sweet, or somethin'. She likes cute people, she'll think you're cute with Mihara-san. She won't be mad at you." Eriol waved, turned, tripped, and weaved off down the sidewalk, singing an old Chinese drinking song that somebody had taught Clow a long time ago.

After the first police cruiser slowed as it passed him, he stopped singing quite so loudly and concentrated on walking in what might pass for a straight line if one didn't look too long at him. He was, he admitted to himself, drunker than he'd ever been before in his life. He thought he might be drunker than Clow had ever been, but it was hard to say. There were some gaps in Clow's memories of drinking that a body could fit an aircraft carrier through…sideways. Of course, Yue and Keroberos had often tried to fill in those gaps with vicious rumors and outright lies. At least, _Clow_ had been certain that he would never really do some of the things they accused him of. Only an idiot would have stood outside an empty house and recited verse after verse of exceedingly bad poetry until well past dawn, even though he knew the lady wasn't in, or enchant a bunch of crickets so that they lined up in front of said house and spelled 'beloved.' And he _surely_ wouldn't have been so foolish as to use the Sun Staff as a pool cue. _Eriol_ wasn't so certain that Clow hadn't done those kinds of things, though. They seemed very Clow-like to him.

The walk was awfully familiar, and Eriol was mortally afraid it was because Clow had often taken to walking the streets after a night on the town. Usually he was looking for Madoushi, which had been a lot easier in Hong Kong, though he'd tried it here in Tomoeda a fair few times. But Eriol knew exactly where he was going, so he was sure it didn't count. And he wasn't going so that he could moon over how pretty Tomoyo-san was while she fought with him. He wasn't acting like Clow, then. Clow had been a sloppy, happy, silly, crybaby of a drunk, and he, Eriol, was nothing of the sort. He nodded to himself, and then held onto the nearest sign as yet another earthquake shook the street around him. The world, he thought grimly, should really stop dancing around like that. He'd never get to Tomoyo's if it didn't. 

And he _had_ to go see Tomoyo. She'd give him that wonderful new 'You're funny, Hiiragizawa-san, but I'm not about to tell you because it'd just encourage you to keep acting like that' Look that he loved. Tomoyo-san…Tomoyo-san…she was so interesting, so smart, so funny, so composed all the time and he'd barely seen her since he'd returned to Tomoeda, he thought miserably. She was always off giggling with the other girls, or sewing and stitching and measuring and ordering things and checking on all the other things. She always said 'Hello, Hiiragizawa-san' and 'How are you, Hiiragizawa-san' when she saw him, but she didn't ask him what he'd been doing, or if he was going to the movies that night, or even say that she liked his stylish new shirt. She didn't even call him 'Eriol-san.' He sighed forlornly. He'd missed her, and she hadn't missed him at all when he'd gone away. He'd had a crush on her when he left, and she'd never known. He just wanted her to know that he liked her. Not that he'd ever say it that way, since he was a man and men didn't say that stuff to friends unless they were a drunken Clow or Clow Junior. But she'd know what he meant, even if he was going to wake her up and make her mad. She was even more interesting when she was irritated. 

She didn't get irritated often enough, he thought, cruising on the idea. She had a sense of humor, a wry, sneaky sense of humor that most people wouldn't think someone so sweet and kind would have. It wasn't a dark side, exactly, it was just that she was Tomoyo and she wasn't supposed to think it was funny to push people into screaming or stammering in embarrassment while they were somewhere out in public. She had the sense of humor that was usually attributed to people like himself. Which was also sneaky and kind of funny, because she was fooling everyone around her and she knew it.

But she wasn't fooled by anything or anyone. He hadn't fooled her at all when he'd first arrived in Tomoeda. She probably knew even before his plane landed that he wasn't who and what he seemed. She didn't tell him that, of course, she just hugged it to herself and let him go about thinking everything was just dandy. Eriol scowled at that thought. Then she'd kept him all turned around from the time Sakura changed the last two sealed cards to the minute he stepped onto the plane back to England. He hadn't had a moment's peace once he'd revealed himself to them, because she kept looking at him and seeing right through him. And he'd never, not once, surprised her. Well, he brightened, that was about to change. He was gonna go knock on her door and she'd open it right up 'cause she probably wasn't expecting any of the guys to come looking for _her_. And she'd told him, told them all, that none of the women would open their doors to any of the men tonight, no matter how pathetic they sounded. Not that he was going to sound pathetic or anything. With a renewed sense of purpose, Eriol straightened up and marched towards Tomoyo's apartment building.

He was so determined to get to her place that he almost walked right by it on his way there. A sense that she was near pulled him up short in front of a building that he didn't think looked like hers at all. Then again, she probably changed buildings like she changed shoes. Guys would do almost anything for her if she smiled at them. He frowned at the thought and made a mental note to track down and beat up whoever it was who was changing her building for her. That guy probably wanted to date her, too, which Eriol wouldn't bloody well have. Not that _he_ was going to date Tomoyo, because he had Kaho and Tomoyo had never smiled at him like she wanted him to do something for her. He wouldn't have minded; he'd have done almost anything she asked. Even without that smile, he'd have done it.

Which wasn't getting him inside and it was getting chilly. Or maybe it was just chilly because he was wet from the sprinkler system starting up and drenching him. Anyway, he was getting cold and wet and he had no idea how deeply Tomoyo slept or how hard he'd have to try to wake her up so she could open the door to him. After he made her realize that he was right and she was wrong and _she'd_ broken the rules, not him, then he'd go back to Xiao-Lang's. That was going to be a very long walk, and he'd have to get started soon or he'd fall asleep before he got there. He'd have to go by Emperor Penguin just in case he did feel too sleepy.

Eriol managed to get up the steps without tripping, and once inside he realized he had to go back outside to wring out his clothes a little. He was dripping water all over the floor. But then again…it was cold out. Maybe he'd just ask Tomoyo to lend him a towel so he could dry off before he left. He wasn't going back outside like this. So he squeezed out as much water as he could while looking through the directory to find Tomoyo's apartment number. He'd been there once, with Sakura-san, but he wasn't sure he remembered it right. Eriol was bound and determined not to wake up her neighbors looking for her. He was an adult, a still powerful mage, and he could find a girl without any help at all, thank you very much.

Chanting the number in his mind so he wouldn't forget it again, Eriol made his way to the corner apartment whose door positively screamed 'Tomoyo-san lives here!' to his sixth sense and politely knocked on the door. She didn't answer. He knocked again, just a little louder. Still there was no response. He shivered and decided that she was a deep sleeper and he was going to have to be somewhat more forceful to get her attention.

"Tomoyo-san!" He bellowed, knocking loudly. "Tomoyo-san! It's cold out here, and I'm wet, and I don't have any keys! Come open the door!"

A door opened, but it was the one down the hall. A very grumpy looking man stood there, glaring at him. The door across the hall creaked and Eriol turned to see a very uneasy older woman standing there, robe wrapped tight around her. He smiled charmingly at both of them and started to apologize as the third door in the small hallway opened. 

"Umm…oops? I didn't mean to wake anyone, but Daidouji-san is a very deep sle…"

Tomoyo's door flew open and Eriol, who'd been leaning against it, stumbled inside. "Whoa. Okay." He managed to land sitting on the sofa, instead of on his face on the floor. Oh, yeah. He was practically sober, all right. He pulled his feet up under him so he wouldn't make a mess of her white carpet and turned to watch her.

"I'm truly very sorry that my friend disturbed you all; he's been celebrating and he's not thinking. It will never happen again, I swear. Please, go back to sleep. He won't make any more noise." Tomoyo bowed several times to her neighbors, before shutting her door and rounding on Eriol. "Have you _any_ idea what time it is, Hiiragizawa-san?"

"No. My watch is broken. See?" He held out his arm for her inspection, but she didn't seem interested. 

"They are _furious_! And I don't blame them! A drunk, screaming, _maniac_ breaking down doors in the dead of night…I wouldn't be surprised if one of them called the police to come get you," she hissed. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

"I missed you?" He smiled hopefully and was rewarded with more glaring. 

"You're making a mess. Stay right there, Hiiragizawa-san."

"Okay. I'm sorry!" he called after her. She shot back out and slapped a hand over his mouth. 

"And shut up! I promised them it would be quiet."

"I'm really sorry, Tomoyo-san," he whispered when she removed her hand. She only looked at him for a moment before walking off again. Which gave Eriol a chance to look around. It was girly, all right. Flowers and pretty things were all over the place; a plushie sat on the cushion next to him. Like he'd told Kinomoto-san ages ago, Tomoyo-san was really good at being a girl.

He picked up the toy and stared it right in the eyestalks. "Tomoyo-san is mad at me," he whispered to it. And now that she was, which was what he'd kind of wanted in the first place because she was pretty when she was angry, he didn't want her to be mad. He wanted her to be happy and smile at him. It wasn't all _his_ fault, though. "She should have answered the door the first time I knocked. Maybe I won't mention the fact that she's breaking her own rules. She's scary when she's angry."

"Thanks for that, Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo said dryly. She stood just behind him, towel in hand.

He looked at her, then back at the snail and decided that he'd rather talk to someone who was on his side. "See? She's not happy at all, is she? I bet that's why you're out here instead of in the bedroom; you said something she didn't like. She scares you, too, doesn't she?" He made the snail nod in agreement. He and his fuzzy accomplice could make her happy again, he just knew it. 

"I said I was sorry, but she didn't care. She's so mean, Hiiragizawa-san," he said in a squeaky voice. "And it was all her fault. She's the one who let me in. She was supposed to make sure I went somewhere else, but she let me in and I said thank you, and she let me stay and now I have to be really nice all the time or she'll throw me out and I wouldn't know where to go or what to do."

"That's very sad, Snail-san. That was a terrible thing for her to do, taking you in off the streets like that. I bet she even hugged you. Vicious, that's what our Tomoyo-san is, cruel and unkind and she _laughs_ at our misery. She mocks us, Snail-san." He and his new friend turned to look at her. "I guess we have only each other," he told it mournfully as she laughed. "She's not ever going to forgive us for getting her to break her own rules." 

"My snail is not interested in having a relationship with you, Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo said, trying to stifle her giggles. She draped the towel over his head. "What 'rules' did I break, anyway?"

"You said that nobody was going to let us in except Wei-san." He peeked out from under the towel and found her standing in front of him. Well. "But you opened the door. You were supposed to ignore me. That rule. You told us right before we left. 'Member it now?"

"You broke them when you showed up; you were supposed to go directly to Li-kun's apartment. There's not a taxi out side waiting for you, is there?" She frowned when he shook his head. "Please tell me that you weren't hitch-hiking."

"Nope. I walked over." 

"Hiiragizawa-san…" she sighed. "Do I need to tell you how stupidly dangerous that was, or do you think you can remember that you're drunk and you could have been killed any number of ways getting here?"

"I missed you?" He tried again.

"Lovely." She began briskly drying his hair, much to his stomach's dismay. "I'll have to drive you over to Li-kun's."

_Everything_ was shaking. It was an earthquake, an avalanche, and a typhoon, and a billion other things all rolled into one. He couldn't figure out where up and down were; they kept moving and shaking and hopping about. It was all so disorienting, so panicky feeling; he couldn't even think of a way to counter the effects. 

"Tomoyo-san, don't do that! I can't think. Stop it, stop it, stop it! Oh, please don't do that," he whimpered. She immediately stopped, pulling up the towel so she could see him.

"You are not going to throw up on my carpet," she told him warningly. "Come on, come with me." She took his hand and dragged him into the bathroom, which was brilliantly, blindingly white. He whimpered again with pain. "Get it all out of your system. I won't have you sicking up in the car, either."

Car? She was going to drive him…? But he was _here_. He wanted to stay here. It smelled very nice, and it was pretty, and he might get to sleep on the couch, instead of the floor at Xiao-Lang's. 

"Please don't drive me all the way over there, I feel really sick," he said quickly. 

"Where's your hotel? I'll take you there, then. Akizuki-san can deal with you."

He thought about that and came up blank. "I don't remember. I don't know where it is. I don't think I know which hotel it is, anyway." That was a lie, because he knew it was an Akasaka…he just didn't know where it was and he was getting tired. "I'm not going to get sick. I'm not that bad standing still. I'm not as drunk as you think. I'll be fine."

"I suppose you can stay here tonight. I don't really feel like driving around town in the middle of the night, anyway," she sighed, rubbing her temples and ignoring the fact that he wasn't very drunk. "I'll call Wei-san and let him know. You stay here until you're absolutely, positively, one hundred percent _certain_ that you're not going to get sick." She wrinkled her nose when he opened his mouth to tell her that he _was_ certain. "There's a new yellow toothbrush in the right hand drawer. Consider it yours and brush. Your breath could kill someone."

He sulked; his breath did _not_ stink. And he wasn't going to be sick. He and Yamazaki had taken care of that before they went anywhere. Mihara-san probably wasn't telling Yamazaki that _he_ had bad breath. She probably hadn't shaken him up and told him that she wouldn't blame people if they called the police on him. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all, but he did as she'd asked him. And when he finished, he could hear her talking, so he wandered over to eavesdrop. 

"Yes…yes…. No, he says he's sick, so I'll just keep him here tonight. …. I don't suppose I mind that much. He's being remarkably well behaved, now that I've got him away from my neighbors. …. What? No, he isn't. He's not there? Well, obviously not or you wouldn't have asked me. …. Maybe Hiira…hang on a minute, he's right here. I'll ask." She covered the phone with one hand and turned to him. "Where is he?"

"What? Who's where?"

"Takashi Yamazaki. Wei-san says he's not back yet and the taxi driver that dropped Terada-sensei off said that you two were together at that point. So where is he now?"

"Oh, Yamazaki. He's at Mihara-san's. He was gonna…." He trailed off as Tomoyo quickly returned to her pervious conversation.

"He's supposedly halfway across town and probably disturbing the peace. …. No, no I'll take care of it. He should be home soon enou…no, I'm not leaving him here alone. He's pale and shaking and I'm afraid he'll pass out and hurt himself, or wander off again. "

"I'm not drunk anymore. I'll be fine. Me and Yamazaki, we're really good at this. He's fine. Mihara-san is probably already taking care of him," Eriol corrected her. She ignored him entirely.

" I'll have one of my bodyguards get him; one of them is always awake. …. Okay, Wei-san, I will. I don't think he's capable of it even _if_ he thought of it, which I don't think he would, but I will. …. Okay. Good night." 

She hung up and ignored him again as she dialed. "Kinyue-san? Would you … no, I'm fine. I need you to go by the Mihara place and …."

He took off to throw up and missed the rest of the conversation. She was sitting on the side of her bed, staring thoughtfully out into the distance. She smiled and him and he felt his knees go a little week. "You're beautiful. You're absolutely wonderful, and not just for letting me in. I missed you. Did you miss me when I went back to England? I should have called, asked you to visit. Would your mum have let you come to see me?"

"You've had quite a lot to drink tonight, haven't you?"

"Oh yeah. I didn't much care for the beer right at first, but once I'd had a few, it tasted just fine. Maybe it was the bar we were at."

"Perhaps," she smiled, "or perhaps drunks aren't too particular."

"Are you saying I'm drunk? I'm not. So you'll come see me in England? You'll ask your mum to let you come? I really have missed you. You're so sneaky and fun. You're a lot sneakier than I am."

Tomoyo laughed softly, sadly. "I'm not ten years old, I don't have to ask permission."

"You're still lovely, even if we aren't ten anymore." Eriol's mind was starting to blur, and he was having trouble focusing on what he was saying. Whatever it was, it was making her smile. "Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten. You're a grown-up; you can do whatever you like." He swayed slightly and felt suddenly nauseated. "'Scuse me a minute." He ricocheted off the doorjamb and into the hall, heading for the bathroom. He paused suddenly, as the feeling passed. "Never mind." He turned around to go back, felt nauseated again, and made a quick dash for the bathroom. Drinking, he remembered from Clow, was a tricky business. He didn't sick up, though. Tricky business indeed. He began to rejoin Tomoyo in the hallway before his stomach sent him back to throw up. 

"Are you going to need help, Hiiragizawa-san?" She sounded concerned.

He staggered out after brushing his teeth again. "No. No, I'm fine. Call me Eriol, okay? You're my friend, right? You like me, and you'd do me favors if I asked you and I really needed them, right? I'm your friend, I like you and I'd do anything for you, so I call you Tomoyo-san. That's how it goes." He nodded happily. "I'm wet."

"Are you sure you're not going to be sick?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm just gonna go get some sleep. I can stay on the sofa, right? Me and Snail-san, we'll sleep there."

She stared at him with measuring eyes, clearly debating something with herself. He stared back, trying to figure out if her eyes were a shade of purple or just really dark blue. They were very pretty.

"You're wet and your clothes smell like all the pubs in town." Tomoyo finally sighed deeply. "If you want, and if you won't be too embarrassed, I've got a shirt that should fit you, and I'll wash and dry your things so you'll have something clean to wear in the morning."

"Tomoyo-san," he said incredulously, "your clothes won't fit me. I'm bigger than you are. And I'm a boy. And you're not a boy; you have little, girly clothes that'll never fit me. I can't wear your shirt." Unless it was the one she was currently wearing…he'd give that a shot if only to see her…. Well. Well, that wasn't a proper thing for him to be thinking of.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, a little smile tugging at her lips. "It wasn't originally my shirt. You aren't as tall or as broad as Touya-san, so it will probably fit. I don't, however," he thought he saw her wince as she turned and led him back to her bedroom, "have any…anything else that you might wear. So…well…" she took a deep breath and shook her head, more to herself than him. "So I certainly hope that you wore something underneath those slacks tonight."

Eriol stared blankly at her, trying to figure out what Touya's shirt had to do with what he was wearing. And just _why_ did pretty Daidouji Tomoyo have it? It wouldn't be polite of him to ask that, though.

"Why do you have one of Kinomoto-san's shirts? He's living with Yue-san and Tsukishiro-san, you know. I mean, he…you … why do you have his shirt?" So much for polite. 

Tomoyo arched one perfect eyebrow, amused. He scowled; it _wasn't_ funny. If he was going to be wearing another man's shirt while staying over with a beautiful woman, he wanted to know how she'd gotten it.

"It's none of your business, Hiiragizawa-san," she replied airily, handing him a red T-shirt that was soft and faded with age. "But he gave it to me several years ago, when I happened to get to the Kinomoto house before Sakura-chan and my umbrella made it back from the store, but _after_ it had started raining. He said that, as it no longer fit him, I was free to keep it. So I did."

"So you kept it."

"Obviously. I'll step outside while you put that on."

"You just kept it?" He called through the door. "Just like that?"

"He said I could. Are you jealous, Hiiragizawa-san?"

"Eriol-san. _No_, I am _not_. It just doesn't seem like a you thing to do." Unless, of course, she _liked_ his son-of-the-next-life, a thought that made him frown again. He didn't want her liking his boy. He wanted her to like him; he liked her more than Kinomoto-san did, he was sure. 

"You _are_! You're so drunk, Eriol-san, I'm surprised you made it this far without passing out."

"I'm not drunk!" He replied indignantly, struggling out of his trousers and praying he wouldn't trip over them. That was the last thing he needed, because Tomoyo would just assume that she was right and he was drunk, which he wasn't. Not really, anymore, really.

Her answer was a low chuckle, which made him glare. Even if he was jealous, and he wasn't, it wasn't funny. He turned to address the door directly, tripped, and managed to hit the back of his head on her bureau before landing in an ungraceful heap on the floor. If this was the sort of thing that happened every time a body had a drink, Eriol thought, then it was no wonder Clow'd had so many headaches; it wasn't from the visions, it was from the sake.

"Hiiragizawa-san!" Tomoyo rushed into the room. "Are you all right? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ow." 

Hiiragizawa-san, how many?"

"Eriol-san. I see three fingers, Tomoyo-san. I hit my head, not my eyes." He tried to stand up and was entirely unsuccessful, as he was still half-wearing his slacks. Not that he noticed that, as Tomoyo was kneeling right next to him, leaning over him and looking deeply into his eyes with concern and … exasperation? 

"I'm not worried about your eyes. Oh, hold still," she muttered as he made another attempt at standing. She shoved him back down and had his slacks off in very short order. 

"I could have done that," he told her, wondering how she'd managed it so quickly. She…she couldn't have _practiced_ that…could she? No, no because she was Tomoyo-san, who was always very polite and formal and pretty and if he found out that some…some _guy_…had let her practice on him then Eriol was going to hunt that boy down and give him to Nakuru as a birthday present. He wondered if Tomoyo was reading his mind, because she was trying not to giggle. "What's so funny? I _could_ done it myself, you know."

"I'm sure you could have," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I'd just thought that you were half-British."

"I am." 

"Oh?" She repressed another smile as her gaze dropped briefly.

He followed her glance down and blushed to the ends of his hair; his boxers cheerfully exclaimed 'Kiss me, I'm Irish!' in bright green, surrounded by fire engine red lip-prints. "Nakuru gave them to me!" He scrambled to his feet and swayed dizzily. "They were a gift! I'm not Irish!" 

"Ah, I see."

"I'm not!" She continued to smirk at him as he tried unsuccessfully to cover the words. "I'm going to bed," he announced, giving up. He whirled away and walked straight into door, rapping his already throbbing head soundly against the doorframe. "Ow."

"Hiiragizawa-san!"

"Eriol-san."

"Whatever! Are you -?"

"I need to sit down." He dropped onto her bed, holding his head tightly in his hands. "I can't believe Clow thought this was _fun_." He told Tomoyo, speaking above the ringing in his head. "He _enjoyed_ going out and drinking. He must have been mad … or rather, madder than I had thought. I can't imagine how much worse this would be if Yamazaki and I hadn't taken care of things at the pub. I mean, thank God I'm not drunk. Can you imagine…? I'd probably kill myself. Really…what do you need, Tomoyo-san?" She stopped shaking him and stepped back to look at him in surprise.

"What do I need? I need to know if you've got a concussion, Hiiragiza…Eriol-san!"

"You're learning," he told her happily as she remembered to use his first name. Finally, they were getting somewhere. "I'm fine. You probably want to go to sleep. I'll go…um…oh, yeah, the couch. I'll be out there if you need me."

"You're not going anywhere," she responded, shoving him very gently back onto the bed.

"Tomoyo-san?"

"You're dizzy and pale, you've been sicking up since you got here, and you've just hit your fool head twice. I'm not about to let you out of my sight. And since my living room carpet is pure white and takes forever to clean, I'm not going to let you near it in the condition you're in. Besides," she said, softening, "there's plenty of room. If you aren't going to feel awkward, I don't mind sharing for one night."

"Oh? Oh! You're sure? I can sleep here, in the bed, with you?" He felt dizzy with delight (and the two blows to the head, but that didn't mean he wasn't very happy) at the offer. It was more than he'd hoped for. 

"Yes, I'm sure. Now move over, that's my side."

He obeyed, rolling over to stare at her in the ensuing darkness. Not tired yet, he thought. "Tomoyo-san? Will you sing me a lullaby?"

"No. Go to sleep."  
"May I sleep on that side?"

"No."

"Will you tell me a bedtime story?"

"Once upon a time there was a young man named Hiiragizawa Eriol. He was smart and kind and he was very happy all the time. Many people loved him very much. But he had one friend who was different, a friend whom he'd awoken in the dead of night and badgered for this, that, and the other, because he thought it was cute. She loved him a lot, too, but she ended up smothering him so that she could go back to sleep. The end."

He stared at her in shock. "That wasn't a very happy story."

"True stories usually aren't, Hiiragizawa-san."

"Tomoyo-san, that wasn't very nice! It's Eriol-san now."

She sat up and picked up her pillow, eyeing him severely. He cringed down under the blankets, playing scared for a moment before beaming at her. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and gave him that Look, which made him smile wider, before she lay back down. "Go to sleep, Eriol-san."

He prepared to do just that. "Tomoyo-san?" he asked after a moment. She made a disgruntled noise. "Could I sleep by you?"

"You are by me."

He slid closer, not quite touching. "I meant right next to you. I'm cold." 

"Will you go to sleep if I say yes?" she sighed. 

"Absolutely!" he agreed, fervently hoping she wasn't getting angry again.

"Then yes, if you'd really like to." She slid back the half inch separating them.

"Thank you, Tomoyo-san." Eriol wrapped his arms tightly around her, nuzzling into her hair. She shifted slightly, getting comfortable, and didn't seem to mind when he did the same. His mind floating, just drifting away, he only half-made the decision to cuddle to his heart's content with his lovely, warm Tomoyo-san. 

And when he was almost asleep, his mouth moving and his mind not, he heard the word "move." She wanted him to move. Tomoyo-san didn't want him sleeping so close to her; like Kaho she probably couldn't sleep with him so close, and she'd been too polite to tell him. He cursed himself for being an idiot, hastily moving away and apologizing. She was his friend and he should, he berated himself, have been more thoughtful of her. More thoughtful of Kaho, too, who was his girlfriend and didn't deserve to have him indulging his infatuation with Tomoyo the very first moment he could. He was an idiot and a prat, he continued mentally, and he had no business being with one woman and holding another as closely as he'd been holding Tomoyo. A real man was constant. He didn't hurt a lady's feelings. He…

…froze when he felt Tomoyo behind him, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug, telling him that he didn't have to move. He'd misunderstood her; she _hadn't_ minded his closeness, just his heaviness. Eriol forgot his earlier hurt, thrilled to find that he was allowed to stay close. He pulled her over so that he could see her, say thank you, and saw the quietly troubled look in her eyes. He'd caused that, he knew, and he intended to rectify it. At least, he thought that's what he intended. Sleep was stealing over him and he had not a single clue as to what he was saying, save that it was making her want to laugh. 

_"Hiiragizawa-kun, could I speak with you, seriously, for a moment?"_

_"Of course," he responded, mildly perplexed. A serious matter at a time like this?_

"I was wondering…that is, I'm a little concerned about you." 

_"Concerned, Daidouji-san?"_

_Tomoyo paused a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I don't know much about magic, and less about having it, but…are you all right? You're not in any pain, are you? I know you wanted Sakura-san to split your power, that it's what you and she have both been working so hard for, but it seems to me that it might have…hurt…. I'm hoping you'll tell me I'm wrong."_

_Eriol stared at her, joy rioting through him. She'd been watching him. "I'm fine. There's no pain, really, Daidouji-san," he assured her when her gaze narrowed slightly. "Having it, it felt more like a lot of pressure pushing inwards and now it's gone. I feel like I've got room to breathe a little more deeply."_

_"Like having a weight removed from your chest?" Tomoyo seemed amused._

_"There's always been a good reason behind a figure of speech," he responded with a smile. He wanted to dance._

_"Well, then, I'm very glad to hear that you aren't in pain and hiding it for the sake of politeness. I was worried."_

_"I thank you for your kind concern, Daidouji-san. I'm happy to know I've got such a caring friend." Happy didn't begin to express his feelings at this eleventh hour revelation. For the first time ever, he wanted to get away from her for a moment; he needed to cancel that return ticket to England and she didn't know he'd been planning on leaving. If she hadn't given him this, this one sign that she might have eyes for someone other than Sakura-san, he would have gone. He would have given his heart to Kaho, who already held a part of it, instead of hoping for a chance that might never come. This chance might never amount to anything, he knew, but he was going to stay and wait and if she was ever ready to try her heart on him, he'd be there. Something about her captivated him, and the love he felt for her was, if one could pardon the term, simply magical, a chance better than a sure thing._

_"I'm happy to be a friend of yours, Hiiragizawa-kun," she said simply, touching his arm before turning to leave._

_He felt her tug hard and he shifted, trying to take his arm back. _"Wait…that's not what happened. She never said…." he mumbled, pulling away from the hand he could still feel. His eyes opened reluctantly, and he saw Tomoyo beside and beneath him, dragging on his arm. "Tomoyo? You're here." He moved, following her will, and felt her sigh and settle more comfortably under him. "I'm so glad you're here. I thought I'd left you."

She sighed again and he held her tightly, heart full. "I love you, Tomoyo. I won't leave you again. You're the one I've always waited for." He pressed his face into her wild hair, burrowed down to her neck, breathing her in. This was more than he'd imagined. Eriol thanked every deity he could think of that he wasn't dreaming that he was with her. Just before he fell back into oblivion, he added a quick prayer that he'd wake up right where he was, just in case. 


	2. New: Tomoyo

****

Disclaimers/dedications in part 1, Old: Eriol.

****

Notes: 'Something new' refers to Tomoyo's realization, and acceptance, of her feelings for Eriol. Remember the end of volume twelve – the scene where she's standing and holding the phone to her heart? That's an up-lifted expression, in my opinion, and that's when she really lets go of her all-consuming love for Sakura. I'm not saying that she's going to completely stop loving Sakura, but I do believe that it's possible to love more than one person, especially since not everyone marries the first person they love. In this particular piece, I merely have Tomoyo waiting until she knows for _certain_ that Sakura will be happy before she examines her heart. And it's quite a new thing for Tomoyo to have her feelings returned, isn't it?

****

Further notes: I think Sonomi is too strong a person to marry for anything less than love, even though she tells Fujitaka that she loved Nadeshiko best. She loved Nadeshiko best _once_, to my mind, but when it was apparent that she couldn't have her, she finally opened her heart to the possibilities of another. His name, Keiji, is purely arbitrary on my part, and taken from my earlier (unrelated) fic _Nearly Almost Close Enough_. 

****

New: Tomoyo

Tomoyo smiled slightly as Eriol snuggled determinedly into her, looking for the most comfortable position he could find. She held in a giggle as his nuzzling turning into gentle pushing, nudging at her until she lay almost on her stomach. He followed, apparently bent on sleeping in her spot. Of course, she mused, it would only be her spot if she was sleeping in it; if she wasn't sleeping there, it was just a random area of the bed and he didn't want it.

He flung an arm over her waist, grumbling indistinctly at her, then decided that what he really wanted was to have his hand under his head, but owing to circumstances he tunneled it under her pillow instead, and sprawled himself across her back. After a moment of stillness and silence, he heaved a contented sigh and settled all his weight onto her. Tomoyo blinked at his arm a few times. She was comfortable at the moment, but there were going to be problems soon.

"Hiiragizawa-san?"

"Eriol-san," he reminded her patiently.

"Fine. I…"

"Eriol-san."

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Eriol-san."

"That's right."

"I think…"

"Eriol-san," he repeated. "You gotta start over. Here, I'll help." Eriol raised his voice to a squeaky falsetto. "'Eriol-san?' That's what you say. 'Eriol-san?' Got it? Okay. I'll pretend to be laying here like before." He wiggled slightly and settled even more heavily on top of her. She sighed loudly even though she thought he was funny.

"Eriol-san?"

"Yes, Tomoyo-san?"

"I need to breathe. Not all the time, you understand," she added quickly, "but once in a while it comes in handy."

Eriol considered this thought for a few moments. At least, Tomoyo hoped he was thinking. It was possible he'd passed out. 

"Do I have to do something about this?"

"I would appreciate it if you did."

"Do I have to move?"

"Considering that it's you crushing me? Yes, I think you do need to move."

Tomoyo was surprised when Eriol stiffened and pulled away, moving to the far side of the small bed. Something about him went very quiet, as though he'd pulled in on himself. He turned to the wall, curling up on his side.

"Sorry, Tomoyo-san," he muttered.

"Hiiragizawa-san?" He went even quieter and she winced. And she did like him, really. Where was the harm in staying with his given name? "Eriol-san, what's wrong? I only asked you to move a little. You don't have to sleep all the way over there if you don't want to." Tomoyo rolled over to look at him, propping herself up on her elbow. He was so unhappy all of a sudden. She didn't know what she'd done to upset him. Maybe it was because he was drunk, but she didn't think so. He seemed so…hurt.

"It's okay." He wouldn't look at her. "You don't have to say that. I can sleep over here. I'm very lucky that I'm not on the couch; it's very kind of you to share your bed with me. I should have been more thoughtful."

"What?" She reached out and touched his arm, trying to read him. "You've already thanked me. I told you, I'm not uncomfortable sharing with you. Why are you acting this way? You were happy enough a minute ago."

He still wouldn't look at her. "You wanted me to move. It's okay. A lot of people can't sleep with somebody next to them. You're being nicer to me than you should be, so I should be nice and move away so you can sleep. I'm used to it, now. So it's okay."

Tomoyo blinked, considering this. That Mizuki-sensei wasn't a cuddler was a little more information that she'd been looking for. It did explain, though, why he'd been so delighted when she'd told him he could sleep close to her if he really wanted to. She hadn't bothered to think about _how_ the man slept when she'd decided it would be safest to have him with her. She was lucky he didn't sleep naked, now that she was thinking about it. Well, she wasn't Mizuki-sensei and she'd rather he not treat her as such, even if it did mean he wasn't going to be making any mistakes come morning. 

She'd never really shared her bed before, and certainly not with a man. She could remember sharing with Sakura-chan once or twice, but Sakura-chan had a tendency to kick so Tomoyo hadn't been anywhere near her. Meiling-chan had once fallen asleep in her lap, but she'd been sitting in a chair, so it didn't seem to count. Of course, she'd crept in with her mother after bad dreams when she was a child, but that hadn't happened in years. Her mother had been away so often when she was young that she wasn't very used to cuddling anyway. But she thought that she liked it.

Eriol still had his back to her, so she did the only thing she could. She slid across the space between them and curled up next to him. She felt him jump when she put her arms around him, but he relaxed again almost instantly.

"Tomoyo-san?"

"I'm sorry, Eriol-san," she apologized very seriously. "I didn't know you were stupid." It would be best to distract him, make him stutter in resentment, or laugh, or do anything besides be still and quiet. "If I had, I would've just elbowed you in the ribs so you'd move a little." She hugged him a little tighter. "Since you wouldn't listen when I told you that you didn't have to move so much, I had to come over here."

"Oh." He held very still. "You really don't mind?"

"I've never really slept with someone before, but this seems to be the way it's usually done. At least from what I can tell from television and movies and such."

He considered this, still not moving. "Well, sleep…yeah. This is how it's done. Almost, hang on a second." He suddenly reached behind him and grabbed her, dragging her over him so that she was on his other side, much to her shrieking dismay. "I'm supposed to be on this side," he explained, moving just enough so that she wasn't pressed into the wall. 

"Eriol-san! Could you give me a little warning next time? You scared me."

"Okay. You're warned." He rolled them both over so that she was once again facing out into her room. "There. That's better. Now…where was I?" Once again, he began shifting around behind her as she laughed out loud.

"You're very silly when you're drunk, Eriol-san."

"I'm not drunk."

"Of course not," she chuckled.

"I'm not. I told you that before. I can't believe you told Wei-san I was drunk. I'm not drunk. _I_ am Hiiragizawa Eriol, formerly half of Clow Read, and _I _don't get drunk. I'm not drunk." He paused in his nesting to peer into her face. "You don't believe me, do you?" He huffed in indignation and went back to making a nuisance of himself in the search for positional bliss. "I'm not drunk. I'd know if I was drunk. I've been drinking, yeah, but I'm not drunk. You lied to Wei-san, you know. I'm not drunk at all."

"Of course not." 

"You should have seen Kinomoto-san. That was drunk. I'm not anything like that." He tucked one hand under his head, burrowing his other hand up from her waist, slipping between her breasts and under her chin to rest under her pillow. "I didn't have to have somebody help me get home. Yue had to help him. Not me; I got here all on my own. Nobody drunk could manage that. You want drunk? Clow Read could get drunk. Man drank like a fish when he wanted to. Couldn't find his way outta a paper bag, he'd be so drunk. I'm not drunk." His hand came out again as he pulled her back up onto her side before tucking itself into the space under her neck. "Then he'd go looking for Madoushi…I ever tell you about her? Beautiful girl. Ooh, he was _so_ in love with her. Anyway, he'd go lookin' for her, but he was in Japan so he'd just end up wandering around town all night. That's drunk. I didn't wander. I'm not drunk." He nuzzled her ear, nodded sharply just once, and pressed her flat into the mattress. "Can you breathe? I can breathe. This is good." 

"You're very drunk." He was just off-center enough, she decided.

"I might be a little tipsy," he conceded, tangling his legs with hers. "I might even be slightly impaired." He hugged her for a moment before his hand stretched out to angle her alarm clock so he could read it. "But I am not drunk." He fell asleep, hand still reaching out and cheek still resting on hers. Tomoyo laughed very, very quietly.

"I'm sure you're not." She settled into her pillow, ready to resume her interrupted sleep at last.

It was nice lying in the dark like this, Tomoyo thought sleepily. Eriol was a warm, quiet presence over her, his breath sighing in her ear. He was a little heavy, but somehow that was nice, too. She didn't mind that he smelled like cigarettes, toothpaste, and beer. She liked the way being together like this made her feel closer to him. She'd missed him and his strange playfulness while he'd been away, and now he was here and for once she had him all to herself. The thought filled her with a drowsy contentment that wound its way through every part of her being, making her feel just a little strange. But it was a very nice strange.

Reaching out, she slipped her hand under his, felt his hand tighten around hers in response, and followed him into dreams. 

+++

A low, nearly inaudible click and buzz woke her. With practiced ease, Tomoyo reached out and slapped her alarm clock before it started to beep. Satisfied, her arm retreated back under the blanket and she settled deeper into bed for a few extra minutes of sleep. She was warm and comfortable and had the distinct impression that she'd just had the best night's sleep of her life. Maybe she'd just unplug the clock. Behind her, someone mumbled something about getting cold and a warm hand traced her arm until it tucked itself under her cheek.

It took her a heart-stopping moment to remember that Eriol was sleeping next to her. Well, that wasn't quite true, as he was still lying mostly on top of her. She turned her head and was immediately nose-to-nose with him. Despite his earlier mumbling, he was still deeply asleep. He would have been very cute, she thought, but for the fact that he looked like hell. His hair was a total mess, there were purple smudges under his eyes that attested to his late night, he was paler than ever, and he needed to shave. And to put it gently, he didn't exactly smell like a rose. Tomoyo was forced to wonder if the other boys, and she did consider them a lot of overgrown boys, looked as bad. They hadn't been out as late as Eriol had been, but the hangovers would probably be very similar. She smiled smugly. There was her 'I told you so' if any of the guys wanted to continue arguing about the traditional date of bachelor parties.

Now that she was awake she had to admit that sleeping in would be disastrous. Not only did the men have final fittings for the tuxedos – just to be on the safe side – but she had a lot of last minute details to attend to and it would probably take up most of her day. Tonight was reserved for the girls' party at her mother's house. They could have done it last night, considering that's where they'd all been anyway, but _somebody_ had to have a party on the traditional night, didn't they? She was expecting the howls of protest from the men to be loud enough to hear across town. But really, women were smart enough not to incapacitate themselves before important events.

With a regretful sigh, she turned her head and tried to slip out of bed quietly. Eriol pulled her back to him before she'd gotten more than a few inches away. Then, apparently thinking that she had far too much freedom, he threw his leg over her. He murmured her name and something else she couldn't hear before he buried his face in her neck. She smiled to herself and tried again, but he tightened his grip on her even more and she found that she couldn't move at all. It was adorable, in a way, that he should be so possessive. Now, however, was not the time for such things.

"Eriol-san?" She didn't really want to wake him up until she had to; his hangover would no doubt make him very unpleasant company for a while. He tightened his grip even further and grumbled. "Eriol-san, I really need to get up right now." He pulled the blanket over their heads. "Come on now, let go and let me get up." She nudged him in the ribs with an elbow and was reward by having him roll completely on top of her, flattening her in the process. Well, it looked like she was going to have to try something else.

"Let me up so I can make breakfast, Eriol-san." She got absolutely no response. Maybe something slightly more urgent would do the trick.

"The apartment is on fire." Nothing – but perhaps something with a little more shock value would do it.

"Eriol-san, the baby is crying." 

He raised his head slightly, eyes still closed, and muttered, "Spinel…baby's cryin'," before laying back down. 

"Spinel?" Tomoyo turned her head to look at him in surprise. "_Spinel_?"

"'s gettin' the baby. G'back t'sleep." He buried himself deeper into her shoulder. 

Well, _that_ was interesting. She'd have to remember to ask about it later.

"There's a burglar in the house." Nothing at all.

"Akizuki-san is in the pantry." Still nothing.

"Kero-chan is in the pantry." She thought she felt him wince, but he didn't move.

"Spinel-san is in the pantry?" She hazarded.

"'s okay, 's makin' the baby's bottle." 

At least he'd remembered that the baby was crying. That had to be progress of some kind. He still wasn't moving, though; it was time for the big guns.

"I can't get undressed if you don't let me up, Eriol-san."

Eriol immediately rolled off her and moved away a few inches. Tomoyo managed to stifle her laughter until she was in the shower. Her mother had once told her that there were exactly two things a man would definitely move for - food and sex. Apparently Eriol-san wasn't hungry.

She encountered her second problem of the morning as she stepped out of the shower and slipped into her robe: Eriol was still asleep in her bed. While she was comfortable sharing a sleeping space with him, she wasn't sure she was quite so comfortable about getting dressed with him in the room. It wasn't that she was so terribly shy, but he had been very drunk and might not remember that nothing had happened between them. She didn't want to scare him. And he was with Mizuki-sensei, and she was sure that her former math teacher would definitely not approve of her being naked in the same room with Eriol. So now she had to find a way to get _him_ up and moving.

She'd already tried most of her arsenal just to get herself out of bed, and Eriol hadn't seemed overly impressed with it. In spite of the fact that that there was a burglar in the burning apartment, Kero-chan and Akizuki-san were in the panty, and Spinel was taking care of the baby, he'd wrapped all the blankets around himself and showed no overt signs of life. Apparently, the baby, the burglar, the guardians, and the fire were her responsibility. And she had to make breakfast for him, too.

Breakfast, now _there_ was an idea. Tomoyo smiled gleefully. She'd seen the results of a night spent drinking before and breakfast was never high on the list of the 'indisposed.' In fact, they seemed quite adversely affected by the thought of it, much less the smell. And she did have some fish in the refrigerator….

Not long after starting the fish she heard Eriol hit the floor in her bedroom. Her fears from last night returned when she heard him gagging quietly. She stepped out of the kitchen and saw him crawling towards the bathroom and beamed. He was so sweet; he'd remembered that she didn't want him throwing up in her room if he could help it. The white carpeting in the living room was out of his reach, so she didn't have to worry about that any longer. Things were going surprisingly well considering the state he'd been in when he first arrived.

She put the fish back where she'd found it and took out some bread to toast. She turned down the heat under the teakettle and headed for her newly deserted room. She patted Eriol's head as she passed him. "Shower while you're in there, Eriol-san. You smell bad. I'll get a towel and your clothes from the dryer while you're throwing up. You may not want to do it, but the yellow toothbrush is yours and I expect you to use it." 

He muttered something inappropriate which she chose to ignore. He wasn't feeling well and considerations had to be made for that sort of thing. He probably didn't mean to be so vulgar, and he would no doubt apologize for it later. And if he didn't do it on his own, she could always mention it to Li-kun and Li-san if she felt that an apology was really necessary.

Tomoyo's luck was holding; he'd finished throwing up by the time she returned, though he was still draped over her toilet looking shaky and wrung out. He watched her with glassy, bloodshot eyes as she put toothpaste on his toothbrush, turned the water on in the shower and made sure it was comfortably warm, and set his glasses on the counter in front of the sink, with his neatly folded clothes and towel next to them. 

"Try to hurry, please. I've got a lot to do today. And I've heard that misery loves company, so I'm sure the other boys miss you _terribly_. Wei-san said he wanted a few words with you when we spoke last night, anyway. I'll have breakfast," she was careful not to smile when he turned green at that word, "ready when you come out."

"I'm not hungry," he managed to tell her in a weak whisper.

"It'll help settle your stomach. Did you want some aspirin with your breakfast?" 

He turned green again and glared at her. "Stop saying that word, Tomoyo-san. _Yes_, I would like some aspirin. If you've got any the size of a small planet or large moon, that would be wonderful. How can you be so cheerful this early?"

"Why, Eriol-san, your presence is enough to brighten anyone's day." His glaring increased at her earnest tone of voice and she smiled even more sweetly. "Plus, I find you very funny right now. Not quite as funny as last night, but you weren't so surly then. Why don't you shower and see if you can't find your humanity while you're in there? It's nearly nine, and I'd like to be going by nine thirty or so." She stepped out, shutting the door firmly on his whimpers as she turned on the light and fan on her way out.

He looked a little better when he finally made his way to the kitchen, and surprised to find that it was toast on his plate instead of fish. Two aspirin sat on the saucer with his teacup and Tomoyo sat smiling benevolently on the other side of the small table.

"I thought I smelled…. Weren't you making…? I mean…" he sighed and rolled his eyes in what she took to be vague amusement at himself. "I think I'm not making any sense yet. Thank you for making this instead of a traditional breakfast."

"You're a lot closer to my nice white carpet and you're welcome. I'm told that bread or toast is easiest to keep down when someone is…_ill_. I made mint tea, I think that'll help too. Unless you're like Mother; she can't stand the smell of it even when she feels fine." 

Tomoyo felt her smile fade a little. Things were tense with Sonomi and getting worse. But she missed her mother, even if they were fighting about whether or not she would go to university. Her mother was only concerned, she knew, and under a lot of pressure from her own parents, Great-grandfather, and even the public relations team at Daidouji Toys, to make Tomoyo go to Toudai like everyone else in the family had. Sometimes, as much as she was enjoying living on her own, she wished she could go home.

"She loves you, Tomoyo-san," Eriol told her quietly, picking up his tea and flinching just slightly at the smell. If there was anyone who would understand how lonely it was to be without family, it would be Eriol, she thought to herself. He understood her and that was some comfort.

"I know. It doesn't make this any easier, though," Tomoyo said. She shook her head, unwilling to let such thoughts darken her day. There was still a wedding to prepare for and she wanted to be nothing but cheerful for Sakura-chan, who was nervous enough without having to think about Tomoyo's problem. "You're just trying to get on my good side so you won't have to tell everyone why I'm bringing you to Li-kun's this morning," she teased, trying to regain the light mood from earlier.

"And miss out on telling them I was found passed out in a gutter by the porn shop? No, no, no Tomoyo-san, I _want_ to tell them. They're sure to ask you just what you were doing at such a place." He smirked at her and cautiously ate a piece of toast. "It's burned."

"Don't complain; I don't make it that often and that's better than usual." She certainly wasn't going to tell him that she'd burned most of the bread she'd had just to get it to 'slightly burned' instead of 'on fire.' She sipped her tea and watched him for a thoughtful moment. "They won't ask me what I was doing there. They might wonder, but they would never dare ask. They would certainly ask you what _you_ were doing there, though, wouldn't they? Have you thought of what you're going to say to that?" 

"What makes you so sure they wouldn't ask you?"

"Well, Yamazaki-kun and Terada-sensei wouldn't feel comfortable asking that sort of question, Li-kun would rather die than hear about that sort of thing, Li-san doesn't know me well enough, Touya-san still thinks of me as a little girl, and Tsukishiro-san is far too polite. Wei-san already knows that's not what happened. You're the only one rude enough to inquire so deeply into my personal life. I thought you were one of those infamous English gentlemen, Eriol-san. How sad to know I was wrong."

"I didn't say I would have asked you, just that one of the others might. Kinomoto-san, by the way, does not think of you as a little girl. At least not all the time." He grinned at her as he finished his toast. "It was a very interesting night."

"What you can remember of it, I suppose," Tomoyo ruffled his hair condescendingly as she passed him to put her teacup in the sink. "We need to leave soon. I've got several appointments this afternoon and there are things I need to get done before I can get to them."

"Of course, Tomoyo-san." He padded to the door and began pulling on his shoes. "I suppose I didn't say it last night, but thank you for putting up with me. You're probably a better friend than I deserved last night."

"And this morning," she added cheerfully, joining him at the door. Impulsively, she hugged him. "You're lucky I like you, Eriol-san." 

"I am, at that," he agreed, hugging her back.

"You're still telling them I found you at the porn shop."

+++

She took one look at the living room and decided that Li Wei was even more powerful than Syaoran, even if he _was_ slated to be the next Clan Head when his mother stepped down. All four of the guys who'd made it back to the apartment were cleaning up the mess they'd made on their way in. They were very clearly miserable, but they were cleaning well and without complaint. 

"I've brought your little lost duckling home, Wei-san," she sang when she saw him.

"I was wondering when he would find his way back," Wei said gravely. His eyes sparkled with repressed merriment as he looked at Tomoyo. "Thank you very much for returning him. I was afraid he might have fallen in with the wrong sort."

"Where the hell were you last night? You were supposed to come here, you moron. And _whyyyyyy_ is Daidouji giving you a ride home, Hiiragizawa?" Syaoran glared at him suspiciously. "Did you go and wake her up last night? Do I need to kill you?"

"No, Li-kun, you do not." Eriol winced; it wasn't obvious but Tomoyo was watching him closely. He didn't back down, though. With a very rueful laugh, he continued, "Actually, Tomoyo-san found me…."

"He was sprawled in front of my door when I stepped out this morning, Li-kun." Everyone turned to look at her, which nicely kept them from noticing Eriol's surprise. "I thought it might be nice if I brought him in and cleaned him up before driving him over here. It wasn't my idea of fun, but it's nothing that demands a beating."

"I don't know, Daidouji, you spelled it out pretty clear that he was supposed to drag his sorry ass back here when he was done. I don't care how drunk that sot was, even Yamazaki made it back and he stayed just as late."

"Um, I think the police or someone gave me a ride. I'm pretty sure I went to Chiharu-chan's first. Maybe her mom did; I think it was a lady who drove me," Yamazaki confessed. "I might have ended up sleeping under Emperor Penguin if they hadn't brought me here. Speaking of which, did you find your way back on your own, Li-san?"

"Caught up to Xiao-Lang," the dark haired boy murmured. "Don't shout."

"Well, as long as you all made it back in one piece," Tomoyo nodded. She would never dream of telling them that their evening had come out just about as well as she'd planned it to. Men tended to get a bit blustery when they found out they'd been dancing to someone else's tune. "Has anyone checked on Touya-san and Tsukishiro-san?"

"I just tried their number but there was no answer, Tomoyo-san," Wei spoke up.

"Hmmm. I suppose I could stop by and see if they made it home. If they haven't, we'll have to start calling around. Sakura-chan would be very upset if they got themselves lost, imprisoned, or hurt."

"I have your cellular number; why don't I make a few calls and let you know if you need to go there? You're very busy today, I know."

"Thank you, Wei-san. I would appreciate that very much. I'm running late as it is." She bowed politely. "I'll see myself out, since I'm sure you'd all like to get back to what you were doing."

Terada-sensei, Syaoran, Yamazaki, and Po-sin glared at her. She raised an eyebrow and they scattered like leaves, returning to their earlier tasks.

"As you like." Wei bowed in response and speared Eriol at a glance. "Why don't we have a little chat about not worrying your friends, Hiiragizawa-kun? I think you have time since you don't need to shower and shave like the other gentlemen."

Tomoyo chuckled as she left. She'd explained last night that Eriol wasn't causing too much trouble and that she didn't mind looking after him if he was too ill to travel. Wei would most likely give him a fearsome lecture about wandering the streets when he was too drunk to see straight and leave it at that. He probably needed that lecture, since he could have gotten himself killed on his way across town. Not for the first time Tomoyo found herself thinking that, despite having Clow's memories, Eriol was really very young.

+++

"Just how much glassware did they _break_?" Tomoyo asked, staring at the bill in her hand. "There were only seven of them!"

"Well, Daidouji-sama, they did attempt to construct a pyramid with a ten-mug base. I think," the owner of the pub laughed suddenly, "that they might have succeeded if the Chinese boys hadn't been asked to demonstrate their fighting skills while they were standing next to the construction site. It was a very interesting night. I'm sure many of my patrons will be back tonight just to see if those boys will be stopping in again."

"They had better not," Tomoyo muttered, signing the bill. "I need them to be in the wedding, and at this late date I don't think I could find and dress replacements for those I'd have to kill."

"Perhaps a post-wedding-reception party, then. I rather liked them, even if I did have to throw them out over the pyramid. I can't have that much glass on the floor; my insurance rates would go through the roof."

"I like them, too. That's why I'm here this morning." She took her receipt, shaking her head slightly. "You don't happen to know where they went next, do you?"

"Just down the street, Daidouji-sama; five doors down, maybe six. Thank you very much for coming in and settling their account. They may have paid for the drinks, but not the glasses they broke."

Tomoyo chuckled and stepped out into the morning sunshine. She'd called all five of the bars she had suspected they'd go to, and only three had confirmed that they'd been there. From the sound of things, it'd been just those three, but she'd check a few of the other nearby pubs just to make sure. Then she'd have to visit the taxi company she had arranged to bring them home. She knew for a fact that Yamazaki-kun and Eriol-san hadn't used it, and it sounded as though Li-kun and Li-san had walked, and Touya-san and Tsukishiro-san had obviously not used it or they would have been with the rest of the boys. She would have to talk to them, though, to be certain that there wasn't a bill waiting at a different company. She checked her watch and sighed. If Wei-san didn't find those two soon, she was definitely going to be late.

The bill at the second pub was astronomical. Apparently, each of the men had stood a round for the entire house at least once. Four of them had done so twice, but there was no way of finding out which of them had done it. Which was, she thought with exasperation as she signed yet another credit card receipt, very lucky for them. She was never, ever, going to do this again, not even for her own wedding. She'd just elope to Las Vegas like her parents had. Of course, she mused, as she returned to the street, she would probably wait until the fourth or even fifth date to do that, instead of the third.

When her phone rang, she had it to her ear even as the caller's name and number flashed up on her caller I.D. 

"Hello, Wei-san. You've found them, then?"

"I have and they're fine. Kinomoto-sensei says they just left his home to return to their apartment."

"I should have added something like that to my list. Thank you, Wei-san. I'm very glad they're all right. They'll be over to meet up with the rest of the guys soon, I'm sure. Speaking of which, is the apartment cleaner than it has been since it was built, or are they still working on it?"

"It's cleaner than new, Tomoyo-san. Hiiragizawa-kun proved to be very diligent once he and I finished speaking."

"You let him get a word in?"

"Just one or two. Mostly things like 'But…' and 'I didn't…'"

"He's always been a troublesome boy," Tomoyo laughed. 

Wei laughed with her. "I should be very interested in hearing how your morning goes, repairing the mischief that the boys got into last night. But for now, perhaps you should step right along."

"Will do. Thank you for your help, Wei-san." She hung up giggling and headed for the rest of the bad news. Which could have been worse; they'd been considerably less rowdy at their final destination. The taxi company had the best news of the lot - one passenger who hadn't posed any problem at all. Wei had obviously known to meet the cab and help the nearly unconscious teacher into the apartment. What a dear man! She made a mental note to talk to him about the extra trouble he'd gone through and see if she could make it up to him somehow.

+++

"You," Tomoyo said, setting down a bottle of '96 Joseph Drouhin Puligny Montrachet to be chilled, "would not believe what the men got up to last night."

"I might." Chiharu laughed and poured Tomoyo a glass of some Bordeaux that no doubt came from Sonomi's private wine cellar. "When I went home this morning, I got some very tantalizing hints that something interesting happened last night."

"Really? Syaoran won't say a thing to me about it. Oniichan and Yukito-san wouldn't, either, but Dad laughed when I told him that they weren't talking about it. So did Wei-san." Sakura looked over her shoulder as she opened one of the balcony doors to let in the cool evening breeze. "Why do you think they won't talk about it?"

"They're just trying to protect their manly images, Sakura-chan," Naoko told her, flipping through an issue of Cosmo. "If they have to tell you they threw up all over each other, they'd be very embarrassed."

"That's probably close to the truth." Rika nodded in confirmation. She was stretched out along the green sofa, drinking juice instead of wine in deference to her recently discovered pregnancy. "Yoshiyuki-san was very cryptic about the party when I spoke to him this morning."

"Oh, Yamazaki-kun hasn't said a word to me. My brothers, on the other hand, had a lot to say about last night."

"You haven't seen him today, then, Rika-chan?" Tomoyo sat down on one of the squashy animal pillows that currently littered the floor of her old sitting room. 

Meiling laughed. "I don't think those guys are seeing _anyone_ until the hangovers subside." She stretched her legs out and left her feet dangling over the arm of her chair. " I didn't see them, but Syaoran and Po-sin sounded pretty rough around the edges when I stopped by to talk to Wei-san. He had them cleaning the bathroom, as I recall."

"I haven't, no. You know, this is the first time I've gone a full day without seeing him in three whole months? You'd think I'd miss my new husband, wouldn't you?" Rika laughed. "But he's so out of sorts when he hasn't slept well that I'm very glad I haven't."

All the girls laughed at that, until Sakura sobered up and asked anxiously, "You don't think Syaoran would be like that, do you?"

"No, he usually wakes up okay," Meiling assured her, still giggling. "Wei-san seemed to think he was feeling well enough to do all sorts of things this morning."

"You must have stopped by just after I left, I think," Tomoyo leaned back, taking a deep drink. "They were just finishing up the living room when I was there. You said Wei-san had them in the bathroom. That must have been…interesting. All those chemicals and fumes and boys in such a small space."

"You stopped by Li-san's apartment?" Mizuki Kaho stepped into the room, smiling at everyone. "Whatever for?"

"Kaho-sensei!" Sakura beamed. "I'm glad you made it. I thought you might not come, since you're so late."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Kaho assured her. "I was trying to find Eriol and lost track of the time."

"He should have been at Li-kun's." Tomoyo was puzzled. "That's where I dropped him off this morning. From the sound of it, he was going to stay there most of today and possibly tonight, too."

"He was in the kitchen with Wei-san when I stopped by," Meiling added. "I thought you said you were going to make sure they all went to Syaoran's when they left the bar, Daidouji-san. Why were you bringing Hiiragizawa-san there in the morning? I was there pretty early."

"Yes, why was Eriol with you this morning?" Mizukilooked slightly concerned. "Was he okay?"

"He decided to pay me a visit very, very late last night. Apparently he wanted to discuss the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of it. He's very entertaining when he's been drinking, isn't he, Mizuki-sensei?"

"I have no idea," she said, sounding bewildered. "He doesn't really drink that often, and he's never been drunk."

"Oh, he was last night. He all but fell into my apartment when I opened the door, and he swore that he couldn't remember where your hotel was. Then he was too sick to want to be driven anywhere. Then he was tired. Then he wanted a story. And he was cold. And he wanted to sleep on my side of the bed, not his, even when I told him I wasn't moving. At least he doesn't snore. He might not have made it through the night if I'd had to listen to that."

"He wanted to sleep on your side of the bed." Kaho repeated. "He was in your bed? With you?"

"Yes. I decided that I'd rather have him throw up on a hardwood floor than on my white carpet. And there was the little matter of whether or not he was planning on dying of alcohol poisoning or a concussion, or both. So I thought it might be safest all around if he slept where I could keep an eye on him."

"So the two of you shared a bed, huh?" Meiling grinned slyly. "Should we be making this a double wedding?"

"Meiling-chan!" Tomoyo stared at her in shock, and the other girl began laughing. 

"Just checking, Daidouji, just checking. He's not exactly hard on the eyes, you know. Aren't drunk men supposed to be…well…you know…easy?"

"Only if you're willing to play along," Rika giggled.

"He wasn't, I wasn't, we didn't, and we wouldn't have anyway." 

"Did anyone else notice that Tomoyo-chan didn't say anything about not wanting to?" Chiharu asked with wink.

"Oh, honestly! How long has this party been going on?" 

"A while, I would guess," Kaho murmured. 

Naoko smile apologetically. "We're only teasing, Kaho-sensei. We almost never get to see Tomoyo-chan blush like this." 

"It's true, Tomoyo-chan. You're blushing just like Syaoran."

"And you, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo retorted cheerfully.

"I do not! I never blushed this badly. Did I?"

"No, you blushed worse," Naoko assured her. "It just shows up better on Tomoyo-chan because she's so pale."

"I wasn't this bad, I'm sure of it. Syaoran would have noticed it if I had been."

The other girls exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Sakura demanded, a smile tugging at her lips in spite of her 'anger'.

"Syaoran wouldn't have noticed you blushing because he was too busy hoping you weren't going to notice that _he_ was blushing. The two of you were so _blind_ about each other; I don't think you'd have gotten to this day if Daidouji and I hadn't stepped in."

"We make an excellent team, Meiling-chan," Tomoyo agreed, giving Meiling a one-armed hug as she went to refill her glass. "What do you say we start on Naoko-chan next? I know a boy who's got his eye on her…."

"Tomoyo-chan!"

"That tall one? Kind of blond, his hair curls a little bit, with that silly smile…?"

"Meiling-chan!"

"That's the one."

"It shouldn't take too long," Meiling said confidently. "There'll be another wedding before we're out of university."

"You two…!" Naoko sputtered, turning red.

"Let's get through this wedding first, shall we?" Kaho suggested mildly. "Then we can think about the next one."

"But we've already got Chiharu-chan's and Yamazaki-san's wedding all mapped out, and that's not until Chiharu-chan finishes medical school," Rika protested cheerfully.

Chiharu blushed but nodded vigorously. "But if we're going to get Naoko-chan married before university is over we should start planning for it now."

"I'm not getting married! I don't even know who this boy is!"

"Well, that's what Daidouji and I are for, Yanagisawa-san," Meiling assured her. "You'll know him in no time."

"Then Meiling-chan and I sit back and congratulate ourselves on another job well done while the two of you fall deeply, madly, passionately in love." Tomoyo added, snatching the Cosmo from her hands as she tried to hide behind it. "Ooh! Maybe you've already got someone in mind. 'Does he love you? Take this quiz and find out!'" Tomoyo read aloud. "Did he pass?"

"I wasn't reading that part!" Naoko protested. 

"Let's not embarrass anyone, all right?" Mizuki chided gently.

"Sakura-chan, I think Mother said she wanted to talk to you before the wedding tomorrow," Tomoyo told Sakura, obediently redirecting the conversation. "You'll want to ask her about it when she comes up tonight. She's probably got a couple of wedding memories about Nadeshiko-san she'd like to share with you."

"Really? That'd be _so_ _nice_. Dad didn't see Mom until the wedding started, but Sonomi-obasan was probably with Mom before that. I don't really know what to expect before the wedding. I mean, I know what I'm supposed to be doing, but…I'm a little nervous. And I shouldn't be! I mean, what if Syaoran thought I was nervous because, well…and I'm not! Not about marrying him. It's just that I'm nervous anyway," she confessed in a rush. "I'm sure I'm going to forget something or do something wrong."

"I was really nervous, too," Rika offered. "Even though I love Yoshiyuki-san more than anything, and he loves me, I worried that he might change his mind, or that I'd do something wrong, or I'd trip, or he'd trip, or I'd mess up saying the vows," she chuckled, shaking her head.

"But you looked so calm, Rika-chan!"

"I worried about everything until the music started and Father took my arm. Then I was okay. It was just the waiting; it gave me too much time to think about what could go wrong. But once I saw Yoshiyuki-san standing there, looking so nervous himself…."

"I'm sure Syaoran will be in a panic," Meiling laid a comforting arm across Sakura's shoulders. "He won't have time to notice if you're nervous, too. And if he comes completely unstrung, we can get him roaring drunk before the wedding starts. He'll be happy as a clam and almost half as smart."

"Meiling-chan! I didn't go through all the trouble of making sure those boys would be hang-over free just to get them drunk for the wedding itself!"

"You've seen him drunk before?" Chiharu asked curiously. "He doesn't look the sort! When was that?"

"Oh, he and a bunch of our male cousins go out whenever someone announces an engagement while he's home. He doesn't normally drink much, but Po-sin nearly drowned him in beer when we announced our engagement. He said he felt a lot safer when Syaoran had to ask him who he was." Meiling smiled sweetly, a faraway look in her eyes. "Syaoran was really concerned for me. He told Po-sin that he'd kill him if he ever hurt me. So Po-sin made sure Syaoran was really out of it when he told him that we were going to go to university here in Japan, while you," she smiled at Sakura, "and he would be in university in Hong Kong. Anyway," Meiling shook her dreamy look away, "he's a lot more agreeable when he doesn't know where he is."

"We're not getting any of them drunk again, Meiling-chan." Tomoyo said firmly. "Eriol-san, I believe, instigated the building and destruction of a pyramid of bar mugs last night, and we don't need any of them getting ideas like that while the wedding is underway."

"I was wondering why Oniichan and Yukito-san had glass in the cuffs of their blue jeans," Sakura said. "I did the laundry this morning, and their clothes from last night were in with it. They must have worn some of Oniichan's things back to their apartment. Dad said I was lucky I wasn't home last night."

"That's the same thing my brothers said to me this morning." Chiharu nodded. "They wouldn't give me any details, though."

"Yoshiyuki-san didn't mention anything about pyramids to me," Rika said, her tone indicating that her husband was going to be in a lot of trouble when they finally got home together.

"Eriol-san didn't tell me about it, either. I found out when I went around to pay off their tabs and check for damages," Tomoyo replied. "All I heard last night were a lot of assurances that he wasn't drunk."

"But he was?" Kaho sipped her wine and looked sideways at Tomoyo.

"Oh, _very_. He chattered like a myna bird to anything that moved, and a few things that didn't. I think he was talking just to hear the sound of his own voice. He didn't shut up until he fell asleep."

"Eriol can get that way, sometimes. He'll outtalk even Akizuki-san." Kaho smiled gently at the thought. "Then there days when he doesn't say anything at all."

"I wish he'd gone for days without telling any lies with Yamazaki-kun," Chiharu sighed. "They _still_ email those things back and forth. With the two of them together again, I can't trust Yamazaki-kun even if he says that the sky is blue when the sun is out."

"Well, at least they have fun together," Tomoyo laughed. "Those two closed down the bar last night; I'm sure we'll hear something big out of them tomorrow. Eriol-san seems to be very creative when he's had a few."

"Let's just hope it's not before the wedding," Naoko giggled. "I'd hate to think what it might be and what it might cause."

"We might hear something big, but they wouldn't have rehearsed it at the pub. Unless they've got very, very good memories, they'd have drowned that lie in beer." Chiharu grinned suddenly. "That's such a nice idea; a great, big, dead-before-it-ever-started lie."

"Oh, you'd miss it if he stopped, Chiharu-chan, be honest." Rika poured herself another glass of juice. "You just don't want to admit it. Give me your glass and I'll fix that. Three's your usual limit, and you babble like a brook if you go over that."

"Well, I can see I'm just in time!" Daidouji Sonomi bounced into the room with a girlish giggle and opened the wine Tomoyo had brought. "This is definitely the stuff to be drinking if you want secrets to come out," she said mischievously. She poured a round and settled herself near Mizuki-sensei. "We're talking about men, right? I like men; they're cute. Annoying as anything, but they do some of the funniest things. When I first met my Keiji, he…."

The girls laughed, relaxing again as Sonomi proved that she could be less a parent than she was a little girl when she had the chance. There had been times when their family had wondered if Tomoyo's maturity hadn't actually belonged to her mother. 

Tomoyo didn't relax as her mother's story unwound. She felt both relieved and slighted by her mother's actions; Sonomi had chosen the farthest seat from her daughter that she could, but she had smiled her old, openly affectionate smile, and had yet to use the word 'school.' She'd known her mother was going to be at this party; she was technically the one hosting it since it was her house and Tomoyo no longer lived there, but it was awkward all the same. So instead of relaxing, she had a couple more glasses of wine. 

+++

Or maybe a few glasses was closer to the truth, she admitted to herself as she locked the door of her childhood home behind her. Enough that her mother pulled her aside a few hours later and told her to stay the night with the other girls. And enough that she refused, with brittle politeness, and had one more before she made her good-byes and promised to be back before the others had a chance to miss her in the morning.

Which would not be any sort of problem, as it was still relatively early and she hadn't planned on getting much sleep on this, the night before Sakura-chan's big day. She had hours to kill, really, before 'sleep' showed up in her schedule. However, Tomoyo mused, 'recheck the stitching on all the dresses' and 'review possible escape routes should something 'strange' happen' didn't sound like much fun. And she felt like…having fun. Just going with the feelings the wine had set spinning free inside her. She smiled, knowing it was a silly smile, and twirled around with a bit of song, precisely because it was what she felt like doing. She wanted, she realized, to play with the wine in her veins and see where it took her. She turned left instead of right.

She laughed softly to herself and executed a quick, tricky, dance maneuver as she decided that she'd follow her impulses wherever they went. After all, weren't drunks supposed to wander the streets, singing loudly and dancing badly? Hadn't Eriol-san had said something like that about Clow-san last night? That he'd wandered the streets seeking out the lovely Madoushi-san. He'd probably been lucky he'd never found her in Tomoeda, since it sounded like the water mage wouldn't have hesitated in letting him know how little she appreciated being woken in the dead of night, no matter how smitten the drunk.

Tomoyo's feet followed their path to Li-kun's apartment as her thoughts followed Eriol's ramble from the previous night. He wouldn't be expecting turnabout and she did enjoy surprising him. He made the funniest faces if you were observant enough to catch them. He was fun, and more playful than the others really gave him credit for. 

She firmly gagged the nagging voice of her upbringing, which was trying to tell her how late it really was and how rude it would be to wake someone just because she could, because they'd excuse her thinking that she was drunk. She had been drinking, damn it, and she was going to act like it. Even if she wasn't very drunk, even if she was just on the far side of sober, she was the only one there who knew it. It was _fun_ to pretend. Besides, it was only going to be this once, after all. She walked into the building giggling guiltily and knocked softly on Li-kun's door. 

She knocked a little more forcefully, wishing she had magic to let herself in with, when she got no response. She gave a very brief thought to making enough noise to wake the neighbors, but decided against it since they weren't actually Eriol-san's neighbors. It would be just her luck that no one would answer. She wasn't even sure if Eriol was spending the night; it was just as possible that he'd gone back to his hotel rather than endure the suspicion of both of the Li boys. Po-sin hadn't liked him the moment he'd laid eyes on him, and that was before he'd known how much his cousin disliked the charming Englishman. He'd said he was going to….

"Tomoyo-san? It's the middle…what are you doing here?" Eriol had appeared in the doorway, rumpled and sleepy-eyed, and just looking at him made her stomach flutter.

"Eriol-san! I missed you today!" She was a little surprised to find that this was true, but pushed it aside to be dealt with another time. "I came to say goodnight!"

He stared at her uncomprehendingly. "You missed me?"

"Yep!" She ducked under his arm and into the apartment to flop down on the sofa, noticing that he had a pallet made up on the floor.

"What are you…are…Tomoyo-san, are you _drunk_?" 

She decided to ignore that since she had no way to answer it properly. "How come you're sleeping on the floor?" 

"You are. Good lord." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I never thought to see…" his hand stopped and he peered in horror at her through his spread fingers. "You didn't walk over here, did you?" She beamed at him and he moaned. 

"It wasn't that far. Li-kun lives at lot closer to Mother than I do to the bars. Plus, I'm not nearly as drunk as you were. I haven't tripped once, have I?" She pointed out reasonably as he grabbed his glasses.

"That's hardly the point! There's…you…you could…and…and…Tomoyo-san, there are people who could have hurt you out there!" 

"Shh! You'll wake the others! And I was fine! If you're going to get so excited over such a little thing, I'm just going to go home. And why are you sleeping on the floor? Is it because this couch is really uncomfortable? I bet it is. No wonder Li-kun always entertains at the table."

"You," he said firmly, "will stay right where you're at." He bent and picked up a bag. "Don't you dare move a muscle." He walked off toward the bathroom, muttering to himself.

Tomoyo sighed in irritation. She understood his concern, but really! She wasn't an idiot, and she wasn't completely helpless. She'd expected him to be a little more…fun…than this. She glanced down at his bed on the floor, then over her shoulder. The lights were still off, and he would expect her to be where he'd left her… He deserved it, really, if she played a little joke on him. She quickly slid down off the couch and settled under his blanket.

Eriol cursed colorfully, added something less than nice about her, and bounded for the door when he returned to the living room and didn't see her. Tomoyo started giggling before he got the door more than half open. 

"Really, Eriol-san! Do you eat with that mouth, too?" She propped herself up on one arm as he stood silhouetted in the light from the hallway. "Were you going somewhere? Don't let me stop you if you were." She sat up and waved him on.

She thought he stared at her, since he was facing her and silent for a long moment, but his face was hidden in shadow and she couldn't see his eyes. "Don't ever scare me like that again." He stalked across the room, suddenly seeming angry when he hadn't been just a moment ago, and pulled her to her feet. "I'm walking you home; you're in no condition to be out alone."

"I'm fine." She jerked away from him. "You were a lot worse than I am."

"I'm not a pretty young woman." He nudged her out, catching her arm again as he locked the door behind them.

"Because that makes a difference when it comes to getting mugged and murdered?" She shook him off.

"That's not what I was referring to and I'm going with you. _That_ is _final_."

"You're not much fun tonight."

"I'm a lot more sober." He held the main door open for her. "And you weren't very happy with me yesterday night, as I recall."

"That's different."

"Different _how_?" He asked in disbelief, tucking his hands into his pockets as he strolled beside her. 

"_You_ were sicking up every time you turned around. Plus, you were loud. You were rude, and incoherent, and _insufferably_ cute." What in the world had made her add that last bit? It was true, certainly, but how embarrassing! She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and realized that he was going to chalk up everything that happened this night to the alcohol, so she was free to totally honest with him, if she felt like it. What an interesting idea! It was time to see where all her thoughts went when she wasn't monitoring them every second. "Which was nice, but annoying. I had every reason to be irritable. _I_, however, have been quiet and polite and not at all troublesome tonight. And before you can point out that you're taking a long walk in the middle of the night because of me, let me remind you that I didn't ask you to." She sniffed disdainfully. 

"I was cute?"

"If you hadn't been, Eriol-san, I would have left you to sleep outside." She grinned up at him, noting that he was in a better mood than he had been a minute ago, before skipping off ahead a few paces. She turned around to see him shaking his head. "I would have felt bad, but I would have done it, and it would have been nothing less than you deserved."

"Then you'll deserve it just as much if I repeat everything you say tonight to you tomorrow. In front of witnesses."

"The other girls already know you're cute, Eriol-san. It's been a topic of much discussion the last couple of weeks. Li-kun thinks we're all crazy. I'm afraid you'll have to try again. Let's get ice cream - are there ice cream places open this late?"

"No. Are you going to dance the entire way?"

"I might. Would you care to join me? I'll forgive you for being so grumpy if you do."

"It'll be awfully hard to get where we're going if we try to dance our way there."

"And where is it that we're going, again?" She asked, skipping back to his side and taking his hand, lifting it so she could twirl herself under his arm.

"Home, Tomoyo-san."

"I don't wanna go home," she pouted. "I wanna dance, let's go dancing. There are clubs open yet…"

His expression said that he was giving serious thought to just picking her up and carrying her. "They'll be closing soon enough. Once you get home, you can put on some music and dance there, if you'd like."

"My neighbors wouldn't like that."

"They're not much fun, are they? That's the impression I got of them last night. Anyway, what do you care if they complain? You've paid your rent, you're allowed to get loud and rowdy once in a while." He laughed. "That would be something to see; quiet little Daidouji Tomoyo getting loud and rowdy."

"I'm not now?"

"More like carefree." He gave her a strange look that she caught only from the corner of her eye. "It's quite a thing to see, too."

"I'm like this more often than you'd think." Something serious in her bloomed and stretched itself between them as she spoke. She _was_ playful; she sang and danced at home when she was cleaning, or drawing and wanted to think, or just because she liked to sing. Was that so very hard to believe? Was her 'public face' that convincing? Did that make her seem serious, or boring? Eriol liked the cheerful, carefree type…and she didn't want to wonder why was that so important to her, that he know she really was the kind of woman he was attracted to.

"I…"

She didn't want to think about it, didn't want to spoil the lovely bright mood she was in with this close, heavy feeling that was charging the air around them. "Short cut!" She sang out instead to cut him off, and darted through the hedges beside him and into a small park.

"Tomoyo-san, wait! Damn it!" 

"Come on, Eriol-san, I'll race you!" 

He was quiet; she could barely hear him over the pounding of her feet and heart as she raced across the grass. Laughter bubbled up inside her. She felt wildly exhilarated, like she was flying instead of running through this midnight park. Maybe this feeling was why her mother still ran every day, even though she was a forty-two-year-old businesswoman with many serious responsibilities. It was wonderful.

She may not have been able to hear him running, but she did hear his curses when he caught up with her as she exited onto the sidewalk. She stopped dead to keep from ending up in the street and thus avoided the hand that had been about to grip her arm. Eriol sailed past her and almost hit a parked car before he stopped himself.

"See? I live just down the street. Short cut." She beamed at him as he turned to face her. "And I won!" He looked a little angry, a little worried, and a lot exasperated. Her smiled widened and became hopeful; there wasn't a boy yet who could resist that one and she knew it. Sonomi had taught her that it wasn't wrong to use a weapon if she had it, she just had to be careful when _she_ was that weapon.

The smile didn't fail her. Eriol sighed, scrubbed a hand through his hair, sighed again, and rejoined her on the sidewalk. "I didn't know that park was there. It wasn't a fair race, you had a head start."

She laughed with delight and led the way to her building. "It was fair enough. You just don't like being beaten by a girl."

"Sakura-san bested me at magic years ago and I didn't mind that," he reasoned.

"That was different. You got something out of losing. Besides ridicule, I mean, you got something. I'm not giving you anything but a gloating victory smile."

"How do you know that's not exactly what I wanted from you tonight?" He asked playfully at her as she fished out her keys and made several unsuccessful attempts at using them. Maybe she wasn't quite as sober as she'd thought. 

She was thinking that through, as well as thinking about the little shiver she'd gotten when he'd said he wanted her smile and just what she should say to that, when she felt him nudge her forward. She'd been standing in her open door, she realized with a blush, just standing there like an idiot while he smiled down at her.

"Would you like some tea, Eriol-san?" She asked, remembering her manners as she entered. She kicked her shoes off and halfway across the room just because she could. He simply toed his off and left them neatly together on her rug.

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think? Besides, I don't think I want to watch you try to deal with boiling water in this condition. Why don't we just call it a night?"

"Because it's still early?"

"Early if you mean morning, yes."

She found her clock and blinked. "It's barely gone midnight, Eriol-san. You want me to go to bed this early? That's insane. I never went to bed this early when Sakura-chan was still the Card Captor and I had costumes to prepare. I'm not doing it tonight, of all nights."

"Sakura-san needs you to be well-rested. You aren't doing something as simple as carrying a camera around tomorrow." 

Something about him had changed when she'd mentioned Sakura-chan. She wasn't sure what, but she didn't like it. Why should someone so dear to both of them put that look on his face? Why should she want it gone as badly as she did? What was it about him, about being around him these last few weeks, that was changing everything so rapidly, confusing her even when things should have been clear? Which one of them had changed so drastically? No, no thinking, not tonight, she'd promised herself that on her walk to Li-kun's.

"_Simple_, Eriol-san? You think carrying that camera was _easy_? I had to make sure I caught all the action, and keep the camera steady, and anticipate what those Cards and everyone involved was going to do, just to make sure I had usable footage. And that camera is a lot heavier than a bouquet of cherry blossoms, let me tell you! Easy! Hmph! You have no appreciation for all the work that goes into a movie. I'll have you know I spent a good deal of time trying to film and run at the same time. Li-kun used to complain about having to watch over me just as closely as he did Sakura-chan during those battles. Meiling-chan was certain I'd be killed for my art." 

"Never would have happened; those Cards are basically gentle souls."

"She was more afraid of it _after_ she left and _you_ arrived."

"I would never…"

"Chase me with a piano? Lock me up inside a school all alone?"

"You weren't alone; I was there but you couldn't see me. As for the piano, I wouldn't have let it hurt you."

"You were just hoping I was fast and good at dodging."

"My faith in you was well founded, wouldn't you say? You're here. You're fine. You're not going to change in front of me, are you?"

She blinked, realizing that she had led him back to her bedroom during their conversation and had just pulled her nightclothes out of the drawer. "Are you planning on staying?"

He stared back at her then shook his head. "I _really_ need some sleep," he muttered to himself and turning away.

"Then stay here." He turned around to gape at her. "Not while I change!" Tomoyo laughed, finally realizing what he'd been thinking she'd offered. "I meant, stay here tonight. It's a long walk to Li-kun's and you don't have to go if you're tired. I've put you through a lot of effort, even though I didn't ask for anything, so letting you sleep over again is the least I can do. You're welcome to use the shirt you slept in last night, though I haven't had a chance to wash it."

"Tomoyo-san, I couldn't…"

"You could last night. It's in the bathroom, you remember where that is." She pushed him out and shut the door, changing hastily. "What's the difference if you do it again tonight?"

"The difference is that I'm sober this time."

"I'm not."

"That's another thing."

"What? Afraid I'll assault your virtue?"

"Not really."

"Why not?" She thought she heard him laugh, or maybe just cough, but she was already blurting out the rest of the thought she'd had. "Because I love Sakura-san?" Was that the reason…? She flung the door open and found Eriol standing on the other side of if, still wearing his street clothes. "Get changed, you can't sleep in that, it'll be uncomfortable. Plus, the other boys will ask you why your clothes are wrinkled." Tomoyo gestured to the bathroom. "Stay. Make sure I'm safe and don't go wandering off again the moment your back is turned."

He obeyed her very, very, _very_ slowly and something about him seemed haunted. "You don't seem the type to go haring off in your night-clothes, Tomoyo-san. Are you truly happy about Sakura-san's wedding?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I am!"

"Clow knew the Amimaya family; he knew where Nadeshiko-san would be born. You're not a group that lets go once you've fallen in love. He was a little worried about your mother because of it, though he was pretty sure that Nadeshiko-san would marry Kinomoto-sensei no matter what happened. He never fully realized how deeply hurt your mum was. We both know your feelings, so I've been worried for you." 

She stared at the door, fascinated by the idea that Clow had been interested in her family. Intrigued with the idea that Eriol knew so much about her through her ancestors. She wondered if Touya-san and Sakura-chan took after the Amamiya family at all, and how. 

"It's none of my business, I'm sorry, Tomoyo-san." Eriol said softly into the silence, and she realized that he couldn't see her face and thought she was angry with him.

"There was a boy, once," she told him abruptly, and realized with a sinking feeling that there was a boy now, too. "By the time I realized my feelings for him, he was already falling in love with another. It wasn't love that I had for him, but it might have been if I'd given it time, and a chance. I never confessed to him; I never will, since he's happy.

"The Amamiya family tends to love deeply, and forever, but we have room for more than one special person. Even Mother loved again after Nadeshiko-san, loved him well and still does. I want to find that happiness, too, of having loved more than one person." Her father had once said it was a gift, to know that Sonomi had loved so completely, and could thus be so sure of her feelings for him. Her mother had been his first love, and she knew Sonomi treasured that. Either way it happened, being loved seemed more than wonderful to her. "I'll always love Sakura-san, but I'm happiest knowing that she's happy with Li-kun and that I can still find another to love who will return my feelings." 

"Well," Eriol sounded a bit embarrassed, "I suppose that answers my question, doesn't it?" He opened the door, looking nearly as embarrassed as he had the night before. His boxers had a large yellow smiley face splashed across the front, and the back of the smiley's head on the back. "Not one word, Tomoyo-san. Not one, or I will leave you here to wander off at will and face the dangers of the night alone."

Tomoyo smiled broadly and led the way back to her bedroom.

"Um, Tomoyo-san?" He asked once they were in bed and she was cuddling against him.

"No, no lullaby tonight either," she told him, yawning, suddenly exhausted. "You can't sleep on my side of the bed, and I'm not telling you any stories because you whined about the last one." 

"What?" He sounded confused and she laughed, realizing that he didn't remember asking the night before. 

"Was there something else I could deny you?" She asked, chuckling.

"Do you really think this is a good…"

"Yes." She cut him off. "Now go to sleep. I'm drunk and tired and really comfortable so now is the part where I pass out."

"Oh, yes, the passing out part. All right, then. Good night, Tomoyo-san." 

He held her gingerly, she noted as she began drifting off. He wasn't cheerful about it like the night before, or sure about it, but he held her all the same. She felt a little guilty about it, knowing that she shouldn't be in his arms, but she willfully wrote it off to being drunk, even if she was pretending most of it. But it was going to be hard to fall asleep if he had the attitude of a man going to meet the headsman.

"If I tell you one, just _one,_ story will you quit thinking so loudly and go to sleep?" She finally asked, deciding that humor would work to loosen him up.

"A story?" He chuckled. "Any story I want?"

"Yes, but since you can't remember it, I'll repeat the one I told you last night. Once upon a time," she began, "there was a young man named Hiiragizawa Eriol…"

And for the second time in two days, Tomoyo fell asleep laughing in Eriol's arms.

+++

Life hadn't been a laughing matter when she woke up. It wasn't that she'd been hung over; she hadn't been, except for a slight headache and a little queasiness that quickly passed. It hadn't been the fact that she'd woken up in the arms of a man she was beginning to realize she cared for far too deeply for it to be simple friendship. It was the fact that he was happily involved with someone else, making him the third person she'd liked that she couldn't have, couldn't even confess herself to.

Such a thing on the morning of the wedding of the person you liked best was just a little too harsh to be smiled away.

She'd smiled Eriol on his way, dropping him off bright and early (and irritated that she wasn't in as a bad a state as he had been) at Li-kun's. Wei had waved from the balcony, which assured her that Eriol wouldn't wake the Li boys by unlocking the door with magic. She'd smiled through her stop at the florists and the dry cleaners. She'd smiled her way past her mother's sigh, Naoko's frantic call home for her journal, Meiling's minor case of nerves as to her own wedding, Chiharu's more serious case of nerves concerning _her_ wedding, and been properly upbeat in the face of Sakura's anxious euphoria. 

She was done smiling for the next ten minutes, she swore, leaning against the door to what had once been her private bathroom. Done smiling and done thinking about Hiiragizawa Eriol. 

"Daidouji-san?"

Tomoyo jumped at the soft voice, wincing inwardly as she realized her situation. Mizuki-sensei was seated at the vanity several feet to her right, clearly waiting for her since her make-up was already on. She should have known this was coming. The woman was a powerful mage in her own right, and even if she hadn't been she probably kept decent track of her boyfriend. And really, Tomoyo sighed to herself, she had not been discreet about her interest in her friend the night before. She had only confirmed what the older woman had probably been able to see anyway. Now she was going to have to deal with the consequences of her heart's actions. 

"Mizuki-sensei. Have you been waiting long for me?" She nodded and moved to the other seat at the vanity as though they had arranged to have this talk beforehand. It was obvious Kaho had been waiting and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise. She got out her make-up because it needed to be done and she was out of time to be foolish with. 

"Not long, no. You were with Eriol again this morning?"

"Yes." Tomoyo took a calming breath. "Last night, and the night before that, as well."

"I thought so." 

Mizuki-sensei remained calm, but Tomoyo was fairly certain that most of that was an act. She'd just been told that her boyfriend had spent two nights in a row with another woman. Even prepared, that would be a blow. But what the other woman thought, and what had actually been…. "It was platonic, Mizuki-sensei. We didn't so much as trade a peck on the cheek." And if she'd wanted that, wanted more, that didn't change the fact that it hadn't happened. That they'd spent the last two nights entwined, innocently, didn't need to be told. There was no point in hurting the teacher any more than she already had.

"Daidouji-san, I…"

"You have nothing to worry about, Mizuki-sensei. What I feel, no matter what it is," because it wasn't love, it couldn't be love this early on, "doesn't matter. Eriol-san loves you. You make him happy. He would never risk that, and he would never hurt you."

"Daidouji-san…"

"I know we aren't friends. I'm not sure why that is, but I assure you that I don't have ill will towards you. I have no intention of following up on my feelings for Eriol-san. He's happy; that's all I need to know." She met the other woman's eyes in the mirror and smiled gently. "As far as he knows, I've only got pre-wedding blues and nobody to take them out on. You don't have anything to worry about, Mizuki-sensei."

"I'm sorry, Daidouji-san. I'm not happy that you're hurting." Mizuki's brown eyes were warm with concern.

"I know," Tomoyo smiled again, taking comfort in the fact that at least she and her former teacher could still get along. She picked up the eyeliner again and turned her thoughts back to Sakura-chan and the wedding. She had so many things to be happy about, really. She wasn't lying when she said, "I'll be fine." But she might have been stretching the truth.


	3. Borrowed and Blue: Kaho

**Disclaimer:** See chapter one.

**Dedication:** See chapter one.

**Notes:** A HUGE thanks go out to everyone who waited so patiently for this! And a matching thanks to those who prodded at me about it and reminded me that I should be working on it. You have no idea how much I needed and appreciated both.

**Borrowed and Blue: Kaho**

She hadn't thought much of being unable to find Eriol the night before. It had been inconvenient, but not worrisome.

She hadn't thought much of it until she had arrived late at Sakura-chan's party and heard Daidouji-san mention dropping Eriol off at Li-kun's that morning. Hearing that Eriol had not gone where he was supposed to and done what was expected wasn't what gave her pause.

Kaho had known for years that Eriol liked Tomoyo in a somewhat more than friendly manner. He'd confessed to it not long after they'd moved back to England because she'd been teasing him about how happy he was every time they got a letter from Daidouji-san. She hadn't been surprised by it, and it hadn't really worried her. In fact, she'd been amused when they returned to Tomoeda and he'd nearly stuttered just saying hello to Tomoyo. It was a harmless thing.

His continuing crush had stopped being so entertaining when Daidouji-san admitted that Eriol had spent the night at her apartment. It wasn't that he'd gone to her, or stayed with her, or even that he'd slept in her bed, that made Kaho suddenly uneasy. It was the way Tomoyo talked about it.

Or maybe just _that_ she talked about it.

Daidouji-san probably wasn't aware of it, but she had turned the conversation back to Eriol several times. She had brought his name up frequently. She'd smiled every time she found a way to include him in the topic at hand.

She'd acted like a thousand other girls who had a new crush.

She was a beautiful girl, and kind with it. She was clever and careful and had a sense of humor to match Eriol's. She had made Kaho nervous while Eriol was in Japan helping Sakura-chan to grow strong enough to split his magic because she'd strongly suspected that Tomoyo was the sort of girl Eriol could fall for. She could remember wishing once or twice that she could get an accurate reading off of herself to see if she had good chances with Eriol or if Daidouji's would be better.

But that had been solved when Eriol had called her by name in front of the others. He'd never done it before, and he knew what it would mean to her.

She _thought_ it'd been solved, anyway, until last night. Until this morning, when once again she'd been unable to reach Eriol by phone, nobody seemed to know for certain where he was, and she couldn't sense his magic. It meant he'd masked his power signature so he couldn't be located. There weren't many reasons he'd want his whereabouts hidden from his girlfriend.

And Tomoyo had not stayed in her childhood home with the rest of them last night.

So Kaho was waiting for her. She knew Daidouji-san would have to come sooner or later, and not just because she'd need to dress and do her make-up for the wedding. They had a connection, one they hadn't had before, and it gave Kaho a little insight into what would come to be between them.

She didn't think anything had happened between Daidouji-san and Eriol, nothing sexual, anyway. But that might have been even worse. A physical relationship would have been hurtful, but ultimately less of a threat. That sort of thing could be left behind. A romance, something based on affection, would be harder for her to overcome.

But, she reminded herself, she didn't know anything yet. She wouldn't know anything until she spoke with Tomoyo. It would be best to go in openly, without any expectations about what she'd learn.

Hearing footsteps, she quickly ran through a few simple meditation steps to banish the butterflies in her stomach. From the way the girl shut the door and leaned back against it, she needn't have; she looked like she'd just been run through the gauntlet. "Daidouji-san?" She asked softly. Tomoyo jumped like a rabbit when she opened her eyes, but recovered her poise quickly.

"Mizuki-sensei. Have you been waiting long for me?" She asked, going to the vanity.

"Not long, no." She paused, making sure that she really did want to hear the answer to the question she was about to ask. "Eriol was with you last night?"

"Yes. Last night and the night before that."

Kaho was saved from having to find something to say to that as Daidouji-san rushed nervously, though few would have seen it that way, into an explanation as to why she, Kaho, had nothing to worry about. She tried to interrupt a few times but the girl just kept going until she ran out of things to say.

It would take her a while to sort through her feelings, but she knew one for certain. "I'm sorry that you're hurting, Daidouji-san," she told her. And she was; she'd have the look hidden soon enough, but at the moment Kaho could see a lonely kind of pain in her eyes.

"I'll be fine," she answered, beginning to put on her eyeliner.

Because she could feel that Tomoyo would be okay, she nodded as she stood to leave. "You will be," she agreed. "I'll let you have some time to yourself, since I'm sure it's the last quiet moment you'll have today."

"Thank you, Mizuki-sensei," she said softly.

She still had time to kill before the wedding party was going to be ready to leave, and they had to be at the temple before anyone else did. Dressed and made-up, she decided to take a walk rather than rejoin the girls right away. While it'd had a good outcome, her talk with Daidouji-san had still been upsetting.

Knowing that her boyfriend had spent two nights, however platonically, with a girl he had a crush on was bad enough; knowing that the girl was beginning to return those feelings was twice as wrenching.

She was relieved to know that Tomoyo was not going to reveal that to him, but it wasn't a particularly good feeling. She couldn't take pleasure in someone else's pain, and Tomoyo was hurting no matter what she said. Kaho knew just how painful it was to keep feelings like that inside.

And knowing that, she admitted to herself as she stepped onto one of the stone paths lacing the rear gardens, was a part of what soured her relief. Another was a sticky sense of guilt. With any other girl she'd have counseled telling the boy how she felt, just to help them get over it. Even, she winced, if that boy was Eriol she would have suggested it. Eriol loved her, and she knew that was true, so his hearing yet another confession wasn't a threat.

But not a confession from Tomoyo, and certainly not now. He'd been so fascinated with her since they'd come back two weeks ago. Not just her pretty face and figure, but with the person she had become since they'd been gone, and with the person she was still becoming. A confession from Tomoyo _was_ a threat, one she didn't want to face.

Daidouji-san had been right that Eriol would not do anything to make her unhappy because he loved her, so it shouldn't have mattered to her whether or not he ever learned of Tomoyo's feelings for him. But it scared her, she realized as she wandered absently, that he would be unhappy if he found out. He'd think of all the things that might have been, and he might come to resent that he had never had the chance to find out. He wouldn't resent her, but that he'd had to make a choice between his curiosity and his sense of right and wrong.

If he never knew of her feelings, he wouldn't feel that way. Daidouji had already said she had no intention of telling him. She shouldn't feel as guilty as she did, should have been happy that there would be no trouble between herself and Eriol. But she didn't; that tiny fear refused to be banished.

It shouldn't have surprised her to see Daidouji's mother when she rounded the next bend – it was her home after all – but she jumped all the same.

The other woman glanced over with a wry, quirky smile. "I always seem to surprise people most when I'm quiet."

Kaho recognized it as a joke meant to put her at ease, and smiled gently as she answered, "You've been so busy lately that it _is_ a little startling to find you standing still." She moved to stand next to her in front of a truly huge snowball bush. "I think that finding you napping would have been nothing short of shocking."

Sonomi smiled brightly at that. "I've been to enough meetings that I can do that with my eyes wide open."

She smiled back as she leaned forward to sniff at one of the flowers. She stopped and cocked her head as something caught her eye. "Is that a tunnel?"

"Hmm?" She looked over then laughed softly, a note of wistfulness in it. "Yes, actually; several of the biggest bushes have them. Tomoyo used to hide here when she was little. The gardener finally staked the most used paths open to keep her from breaking the stems." She reached out and stroked one closed bud. "I could always tell when she'd been in her 'Snow Castle' because she'd be covered in ants when she came out. Her games were always so elaborate."

For a moment Kaho simply studied the woman quietly from the corner of her eye. Everyone in Tomoeda knew of the trouble between Tomoyo and her mother, troubles that were only growing worse and worse. Indeed, during the time she'd been here she had seen how the air between them whenever they'd been in the same room was thick with tension. Even tipsy at the party last night, Tomoyo had not relaxed after her mother had shown up, and Sonomi had all but ignored her daughter. The affection she was hearing now was not the sort of thing she'd come to expect. In fact, Sonomi's voice was usually hard and flinty when she spoke of Tomoyo.

Sonomi was perceptive; without even a glance away from the flowers, she laughed another of those strange laughs. "I'm sorry to confuse you. Today has been bringing me all sorts of memories."

"I'm sure," she said carefully, "that there must be at least one good one."

"Many," she answered. She finally looked over, expression serious. "Tomoyo is my daughter; if she told me she wanted the world on a string, I'd start looking for a ribbon long enough for it. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone else. No matter how bad things might get, that won't change."

"I don't mean to tell you your business, but I think if you told her that…" she trailed off as Sonomi started shaking her head. "Tomoyo-san knows you love her, Daidouji-san, but hearing it might help ease the tension between you."

"I don't want it eased." She sighed and walked a few paces to a stone bench, motioning for Kaho to follow her as she sat. "I want what's best for Tomoyo, and this is the only way I can help her to be happy. I know," she said when Kaho started to interrupt. "I know she's miserable, and it's killing me to do this. But this is a choice between her happiness and my own, and she's always going to win out."

"I don't think I understand," Kaho said slowly. "If her happiness is what you want most, how is this a way of achieving it? You're both unhappy."

"Because I can't tell her I'm doing it for her own good. She dreams of being a fashion designer, not a businesswoman. And she's already got the skill to do that, so there's no reason for her to delay that dream by going to university. My parents and grandfather don't really see that, they see her as breaking with family tradition. Tomoyo tries so hard to make the people around her happy that she'd give up anything to do it. I want her to do what makes her happy, and the only way I can give her that freedom is to make her leave. Otherwise our family will push and push and push and pressure her into doing what they want, not what she wants. If I disown her, it'll put me between her and them. I know that I won't bend to them, because I'm selfish like that."

"If you explained that to her…."

"If I did, she'd feel terrible for what I'll have to go through on her behalf and want to spare me the pain and trouble. Plus, my family would still have open access to her. If she doesn't know, she'll do what I'm pushing her to do. If it's her choice to go, it'll be her choice when she comes back, and that'll be after she has what she wants."

"So all this," Kaho gestured vaguely, "is for her good?"

"It's killing me," she repeated softly, "but I love Tomoyo enough that I'd rather have her hate me than give up what she wants most. If I have to hurt to make sure she'll be happy, then I'm more than willing to hurt. Loving her is more about her than it is about me. So even though I'm sad, I've got the comfort of knowing that Tomoyo will be happy in the end. If she chooses to come back to me, wonderful. If she's too angry with me, so be it. I had her love for eighteen years and that's more than most anyone else will ever have."

"Cruel to be kind," she said after a moment of thought. "I don't think I've ever seen that saying in action before, though."

"Well, I've never been one to follow the crowd." She sighed deeply after a moment. "I assume you'll keep this to yourself?" She nodded along with Kaho. "Thank you. For the silence and the listening."

"You're more than welcome, Daidouji-san. It must have been hard to keep all that to yourself."

"I guess it was. Oh, but what am I doing? I'm supposed to be thinking of more pleasant things. Or at least practicing telling the story of Nadeshiko's wedding without screaming. It was actually pretty funny, if I can ignore the fact that she married that gu…Kinomoto-sensei." She rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'll get through it without calling him 'that guy' some day."

"Old habits die hard," Kaho said. She stood up, too; after such a serious conversation, after two serious conversations, she was ready to join the girls.

They were nearly ready when she got back to them. There was the usual last-minute flurry of activity and nervous giggling that came with any important even, and it was somehow soothing to see it. Their excited chatter was a welcome distraction from her own worries. She slipped into a conversation with Chiharu-san and Sakura-chan, glad to see that Sakura's anxiety was fading now that she was more prepared for her wedding.

She glanced over at Tomoyo once as she crossed the room to speak with Rika-san. Hovering over Sakura again, she seemed fine. Even knowing what to look for, Kaho had trouble seeing the tiny cracks in her demeanor. Her eyes glowed brightly as she fussed with the dress, and her voice didn't have even a hint of sadness to it.

Maybe she had been wrong to worry. Perhaps it _was_ only a school-girl crush Daidouji harbored. The first flush of having someone special could be very intense, but it did wear off quickly. It might even have been, as Tomoyo had suggested, nothing but wedding blues and nobody to take it out on. If so, she would be fine within a few days.

She felt a little lighter as she crowded into the limo along with everyone else.

She was waiting outside in the bright sun when Eriol arrived with the other men some fifteen minutes later.

"Kaho," he exclaimed, smiling. "How was your party last night? You seem to be in better shape than any of us were after ours."

"It was interesting. Lots of secrets spilled out with the wine."

"Oh, did they?" He looked, Kaho thought, like he very much wanted to ask just what she'd heard, and at the same time like he wished he hadn't asked about the party at all.

"Yes, but they wouldn't be secrets if I repeated them, so don't even ask what they might have been."

"I'd tell _you_ what _I_ heard, if I could remember any of it," he told her as he led the way inside.

She laughed softly. "You used to be better at keeping secrets."

"Yes, but those were _my_ secrets. I don't have to be so careful with Li-kun's. The bride's side, if you please," he told Terada-sensei, who came to great them and usher them to their seats.

Kaho could see his eyes dart over to the groom's side as they were led to a seat near the front. He was trying to be unobtrusive about staring, but she could tell that he was surprised by whatever it was he was seeing.

"Eriol?"

"Good lord," he murmured as they sat down. "That's got to be at least 90 of the clan over there. They must've stripped the offices bare and left just the most distant relatives behind."

"Well, it is Li-kun's wedding. And he is marrying someone very, very special. I suppose they all wanted to get a look at her."

"Actually, it's probably so they-"

He was cut off by the music starting. Li-kun appeared up front, but nearly everyone had turned around to watch the procession.

The flower girl and ring bearer, both children from a far branch of the Li family, were dressed almost _exactly_ like the bride and groom. Faces solemn, they started to march down the center of the aisle. Unlike most children of that age, their pace never wavered, never slowed as they passed their parents, never sped up to get it over with.

"Aren't they sweet looking?" Kaho whispered.

"Scared," he responded before he shifted his focus back to the main entry.

Naoko and Yukito appeared in the door and began their stately walk up the main aisle. Yukito was smiling, Naoko blushing in a way that complemented the pale, pale pink of the bridesmaid dresses. Neither of them seemed nervous; just highly aware that they were being stared at.

As they reached the halfway mark, Touya and Chiharu made their entrance, walking at the same slow, steady pace. Unlike the first couple, there were no smiles and blushes. Touya had an expression that re-defined the word 'neutral' firmly in place. To Kaho, who knew him well, he was obviously torn between rage, fear, sadness, and scratching at that itch between his shoulders that seemed to come with every suit ever made. Chiharu wouldn't look away from their destination, but one could see the tears shining in her eyes.

As they reached the front and turned to take their places at the sides, Naoko and Yukito smiled reassuringly at the couple behind them, as well as the couple just appearing. The third couple didn't need the encouragement, though.

Li Meiling and Li Po-Sin both radiated confidence. They were used to having all eyes on them, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Kaho was pleased to see it; she had wondered if there was any boy other than Li-kun who could match Meiling's forceful personality. Together, the two marched down the aisle as though they owned it.

Beside her, she could hear Eriol make a soft sound of amusement. "You can tell who they're related to," he murmured. "Kind of shy, though."

She turned to look at him, startled. He beamed at her, eyes laughing. She was forced to roll her eyes, which only made his smile wider. Kaho was so busy staring at his smile that she nearly missed seeing Yamazaki and Tomoyo make their entrance. She might have missed it entirely if it hadn't been for the way Eriol's eyes widened and his breathing stopped for a moment. He released his breath in a shaky, nearly inaudible, sigh as she turned back to the door.

Yamazaki looked like he was enjoying himself already, his smile bright and cheery. On his arm, Daidouji was calm and serene, smiling warmly at everyone. They smiled to each other before they stepped out.

She could feel him shifting slightly, slightly, keeping Tomoyo firmly in sight. He was barely breathing, as though all he was seeing would be blown away by anything more than a sigh. He might as well have put his heart on his sleeve.

The pair of them didn't seem to look at anyone in particular, smiling at everyone all at once as they moved gracefully down the aisle. Yamazaki smiled once at Chiharu, who had reached her place up front next to Naoko, before turning his attention back to the assembly. Tomoyo's attention didn't flicker once.

Until she reached the halfway mark. Then, as Sakura-chan stepped out on her father's arm, her eyes darted over to Eriol and Kaho. Just for an instant, then her eyes were back on the group up front, her smile amused as she caught sight of Li-kun, but Kaho had seen it. Worse, she knew that Eriol had seen it. He hadn't turned with everyone else at the first glimpse of his heir. A moment only, just a heartbeat behind everyone else, but it was enough to crack Kaho's heart.

"Oh, dear," he said softly as she felt him focus on Sakura-chan. "I think I might cry."

She was forced to agree, and fumbled in her purse for a package of tissues. Sakura-chan was even more radiant now than she had been at the Daidouji mansion, and her expression as she caught sight of Syaoran, so in love, was enough to make anyone teary. Kinomoto-sensei had to nudge her forward a step, she was so caught up in staring. The blush that came over her cheeks pushed Eriol into stealing the tissue out of her hand.

"She's lovely," was all Kaho could manage.

The music stopped as they reached the front. She could see Touya close his eyes as their father took her hand from his arm and placed it in Syaoran's. Yukito leaned slightly, just enough to brush his shoulder against Touya's, in response. To the second sight, Touya was a mix of joy and sorrow, just as she'd always suspected he would be. All the girls got teary for a moment, but nobody broke down, which they'd all worried about endlessly in the car on the drive in.

The ceremony started.

Eriol's concentration wandered, she noticed. During "unimportant" parts of the ceremony his focus would slowly shift from the bride and groom to the maid of honor. He'd stare for a while, then jerk his eyes back to the wedding itself. A split second later he'd slant a quick glance in her direction, and then back to the front. After a few minutes, the cycle would repeat itself.

His face was expressive, if you knew what to look for. Right now, as he watched the girl he'd had a crush on for years, his expression was nothing short of enthralled. He didn't even try to hide it, she thought sadly. His heart was in his eyes, his soul shining out. Most people might have thought the joy was for Sakura and Syaoran, without looking any deeper, or following his gaze. If they had, what would they think? That he was a young man in love.

But Kaho knew things that others didn't. If it looked like he was in love, it was with someone who _wasn't_ his girlfriend.

Daidouji, too, was aware of the scrutiny. Though she remained focused on Sakura and Li-kun, her always perfect posture was tense. Most people would have blamed her nervousness on her role in the wedding, but, again, most people didn't know what Kaho did.

Kaho knew that Daidouji-san was aware not only of Eriol staring at her, but that Kaho knew that Eriol was staring. So instead of being nervous because the boy she liked was watching her, she was tense because the girlfriend of the boy she liked was right there watching both of them.

It was, Kaho thought bleakly, almost exactly like what she'd seen in dozens of classrooms. The uneasy dance of attraction, the courtship of fear by desire, only this case involved the stumbling block of another woman.

It was a no-win situation for Tomoyo, really. But it wasn't a winning situation for her, either. Even if Tomoyo couldn't see the look on Eriol's face, Kaho could. It hurt, badly, that he could look at someone other than her with an expression like that.

He spent nearly the entire ceremony watching Daidouji's every move. Even when she and the other bride's maids sat down, he let his eyes follow her, instead of watching the couple whose wedding it was. Kaho spent almost as much time watching him watch her, thinking hard about love, happiness, and choices.

She loved him and he loved her. That was established fact. But it was also established fact that he was attracted to Daidouji on several levels and had been for years. Since before Sakura-chan split his powers, which was also before he'd said a word to Kaho about his feelings for her, he'd had an eye on Tomoyo. He had made his choice once he was free from his power and knew he'd have a normal life.

Or was it that he'd had the choice made for him?

Kaho knew Tomoyo well enough to know that her feelings for Eriol were new. Before this wedding, before Sakura's happiness was absolutely assured, she had regarded him as nothing but a friend. During the capturing of the Clow cards and the changing of the cards to the Sakura cards, her heart and her will had not strayed for even a moment from Sakura.

It had been obvious that there was no chance for anyone else back then. It would have been stupid of Eriol to reject one love when there was no hope of the other.

He _did_ love her. He could act beautifully, but nobody could act well enough to fool the second sight. But love didn't mean that he couldn't wonder. It didn't mean that he wouldn't always wonder.

Eriol would wonder, but he'd stay. He would stay because it was the right thing to do, especially if he'd decided on her just because he couldn't have the other. If he left her the moment Tomoyo offered him a chance, it would make their years together meaningless. Worse, it would turn those years from loving her to using her. Never in any lifetime would he do that to a person.

Did she really want that? She wanted him, but his affection, not his duty.

If he didn't know, if he only guessed but didn't _know_, it would be affection. How much of a difference would it make that _she_ knew that he might have had a chance? If she knew and he didn't and their love wasn't tested and compared and honest, would it be any different than it had been in the past five years?

Daidouji had been working her way toward this all that time. Not consciously, but doing it all the same. If she didn't tell Eriol that she liked him, she'd work her way past it, perhaps.

How much, Kaho wondered as she watched the bride and groom seal their vows and their lives with a kiss, did it take to make a relationship real?

She forced her mind away from the matter during the reception dinner. Their table faced the main table at the head of the room, and Eriol had chosen a seat that gave him a clear view of it. His eyes still darted to Tomoyo as often as they did to Sakura and Kaho herself, but his attention was at his own table.

She had to consider it a blessing in disguise, though. She hadn't been sure if she would have been able to stop him from standing up during the speeches and making his own. A quelling look, a quelling Look, from Daidouji had kept him seated and silent, if pouty. Since she knew the things he'd been likely to say, she was glad that Tomoyo had been able to catch his eye before he could open his mouth.

Glad, Kaho reminded herself as people began to ready the dance floor. "So," she said, sipping her champagne, "what was it you were saying about most of the Li family being at the wedding?"

He blinked, confused for a second as he tried to figure out what she'd been referring to, then grinned. "They weren't all there just because he was marrying The Card Captor," he spoke the words in a verbal capitalization, "but to make _sure_ he married her. They had enough combined fire power to deal with just about anything that could have tried to stop the wedding. You didn't notice?"

"I don't usually try thinking of things in terms of possible military engagement. I don't think they would, either."

"Are you kidding," he asked, putting down his fork. "They're the ones who provided the flower girl and ring bearer. That's an old custom based on the theory that evil spirits try to steal the souls of the bride and groom, so the people would dress up children to try to trick the spirits. Then, once the kids had been possessed, and the wedding was over, they'd kill the kids."

"I'm sure they didn't-"

"Oh, yes, they would. That's exactly what they were doing. The kids are right over there," he pointed, "and I'm sure the Clan didn't really expect to put the kids to death after the wedding, but they're also aware that there are reasons for superstition. Did you see the expressions on their faces? Those were not two kids happy and honored to be in Cousin Xiao-Lang's wedding, Kaho. I bet they're from the weakest, farthest branch of the family."

"Oh, really, Eriol," she sighed. "You're so cheerful."

"I'm honest." His glance flicked toward the head table, a hardly noticeable thing. "But I suppose that honesty and happiness don't necessarily go hand in hand."

"Liars aren't always happy, either," she pointed out softly. He was happy, she thought, but not as happy as he could be. Not as happy as he would be without the cloud of 'maybe' hanging over him. Whether or not he knew it didn't matter.

"Which is also true," he said, nodding and taking up his fork again.

She watched him move on to the cake, the way his eyes closed and he looked like he had gone to heaven as he took the first bite. It wasn't going to matter if he ever wondered about how things might have been if he'd had a real chance with Tomoyo, because Kaho was going to wonder. Wonder how much he loved her, how much of his presence in her life was love and how much was obligation. She needed him to know for certain what it was he wanted.

"Oh dear god, I have got to find out who did the catering. I need to find the person who made this cake and throw myself at his or her feet in gratitude. Taste this."

She looked at the fork he held out to her for a moment before she gently pushed his hand back down to his plate. "I think it's over, Eriol."

He looked over his shoulder at the dance floor. "I know they're almost ready to announce the first dance but…that's not what you're talking about." He turned back slowly. "Why? Kaho, why?" Eriol followed her gaze to Tomoyo, standing with the rest of the wedding party at the edge of the floor, waiting to dance with Yamazaki as soon as the bride and groom had begun their first dance as husband and wife. "Daiouji-san? That's nothing, Kaho, it's absolutely _nothing_. I love you."

"I know that, Eriol," she told him. "But your feelings for Daidouji-san-"

"Are nothing," he interrupted. "Nothing happened between us. Nothing is going to happen. She and I are only good friends. I'm with _you_."

"That's no reason to stay with me."

"And an old crush isn't a reason to leave, either. I still love you, Kaho. I'm sure that I've worried you the past couple of days, but I love you. And you must know that she doesn't have any new feeling for me, really, that it's just Sakura-chan's wedding. She-"

"She's not just a little lonely, Eriol, not just a little blue," she cut in. She closed her eyes as she told him the next part. "She's where you wish she'd been when you first met her. Sakura-chan will be happy, for certain, now. She doesn't have to worry about securing that anymore so she's got her eyes open, ready to take a chance on her _own_ happiness by giving one." She opened her eyes and looked directly into his as she spoke. "We both know who she'd like to give that chance to. We both know that you were hoping for that even as Sakura-chan split your powers."

"No. No, that was a crush, Kaho. Nothing but a schoolboy _crush_."

"And now it isn't."

"It's not love, either," he told her furiously, leaning across the table. "Whatever her feelings are, whatever mine are, they aren't love and they aren't any reason for leaving you."

"You're right," she said. She could hear the dancers as they moved across the floor just above the pounding of her heart. Part of her told her to stop right there. Stop, she didn't have to do this. She didn't have to lose him. He knew Tomoyo's feelings now and he was still telling Kaho that he loved her, that he wasn't going to leave her and he was meaning every word of it.

The part of her that wasn't scared, though, pushed her on. She and Eriol had built a solid emotional base over the years. Once Tomoyo was out of his system, once and for all, then he'd be free to come back to her. She'd be sure in his love for her, no linger doubts, no niggling fear and worry. He'd know what he was coming back to, coming back for. They just had to get through this first.

"You're right, Eriol, it isn't a reason to leave. But a _chance_ for love is. I love you, Eriol. I love you but I won't stay with you just because we're already together. I want you to take this chance."

"I don't want to take it." He sat back defiantly.

"You're an abysmal liar," she told him. "Don't be stubborn along with it. I'm leaving. I'd like to leave knowing that you'll at least try to be happy, instead of knowing that you're only trying to prove a point that you don't even have to make. You love me, I love you, but it's over now. See where your heart leads you next."

He'd closed his eyes during her speech, and he kept them closed as he asked, "Where are you going to go?"

"Back to England, for a little while, anyway. Then probably back here after I get that doctorate. Or maybe I'll stay there; it's a beautiful place. I haven't made any plans yet." She touched his hand to get him to look at her again. "We'll both be fine, Eriol. There was a life before we were together and there'll be life after. No matter what comes, we had that time together, we love each other. The future doesn't change the past."

"Kaho, you don't have to do this."

"I don't," she agreed. "I can't say I particularly want to, either. But it's what's best and it's what I'm going to do."

"I-"

"_You_ should finish that slice of cake that captured your heart because you know how you get when you start dancing; can't leave the floor until the band's packed up and half way to the next town. I'm going to go talk with Terada-sensei before I see what kind of fit Daidouji-san has when I ask her ex-husband to dance. I don't know who they think they're fooling with that divorce; you can tell that they're going to end up married again once they stop working so hard."

"Maybe they're just waiting for a better time," he told her. He was poking at his cake, looking slightly ill.

"Maybe." She grabbed his fork, took the bite he'd offered her earlier, and sighed. "That is incredible. I hope I remember to ask Daidouji-san who did the catering before I ask her husband out onto the floor. I don't think she'd give it to me after."

"I told you it was good," he smiled weakly at her as she stole a second piece. "You'll let me know who it was, right?"

"You can count on it. I'm leaving this relationship, Eriol, not you. We'll still be friends, I can tell."

"So can I," he replied. His smile was stronger now.

Heart breaking, she handed his fork back to him and turned away. As she wound her way over to her fellow teacher she could see Eriol push his plate away and stand up. He'd be crossing the room to ask for a dance in another moment.

But they'd be okay.


End file.
